Love Triangle
by spilihp17
Summary: It's been 5 years since the war ended. Team Minato is all grown up. Crossing the boundaries between friendship and love; Rin must make a choice between the boy she loves and the boy who loves her. KakashixRin RinxObito.
1. Chapter 1

**After getting amazing responses for my first 2 oneshots I've decided to actually write a story that includes more than one chapter. I'm not sure how many chapters there will be; but I do have a fair idea of how I want the story to progress and how it should end. Let's see where the writing takes me. What i do know is that there will be a new chapter soon. (:**

 **I've rated it M cause I don't really know where the story will go in that regard. So warning for future smut.**

 **Please do review and let me know what you think and provide suggestions if you have any. Also follow and favorite the story if you liked it.**

 **Without further ado, proceed and enjoy. Cheers!**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: An Unexpected Knock.**

She woke up to the sound of knocking on her door. Fluttering her eyes open; she stretched before getting out of bed. Looking at herself in the mirror she wondered why she could never wake up with good bed hair. Tying her hair into a bun she walked to the living room.

 _Knock, Knock, Knock._

'Rin, wake up already.' The voice came from the door.

Recognizing the voice instantly she smiled to herself. 'I'm coming, give me a second.'

Answering the door she was quickly pulled into a warm embrace by the black haired shinobi. Lifting her off the ground he walked into the apartment before putting her down.

'To what do I the pleasure of the hug Obito?' she asked.

Walking through the door the silver haired boy tossed a scroll at her. 'Read it, it's from the Hokage.' He said.

'Kakashi, when did you get back from the mission?' Rin asked catching the scroll.

'I got back an hour ago. Minato sensei called Obito and I for a meeting and asked us to deliver the scroll to you. It's for our next mission.' He replied

Opening the scroll she barely read the first line before pulling both the boys in a hug. 'I became a jounin, finally. Is this why you hugged me Obito? Couldn't you tell me yourself instead of having me read the scroll.' Rin looked exalted at the news.

Obito rubbed the back of his head and grinned sheepishly.

'So what does the scroll say about the mission?' Kakashi asked.

'Well it's supposed to be a B ranked escort mission to the village hidden in the mist, some big-shot business man. It says we have to leave in two days.' She replied

Obito's face became pale at the mention of the hidden mist village. Even though it had been 5 years since the 3rd great shinobi war ended, the horrors of his past still haunted his present.

Sensing his discomfort Rin pulled him into an embrace. 'It's over Obito . Don't worry; we're with you this time.' She consoled him before kissing his cheek.

Her words seemed to comfort him, he regained his composure before replying, 'Yeah I know, I'm fine. Thank you Rin.' He feigned a smile. 'Anyways… Go get dressed; we're taking you out for brunch to celebrate. Everyone is waiting at the barbecue restaurant.'

 **. .**

Walking to the restaurant; Rin had her arms locked with both Kakashi and Obito. Having a bounce in her step she couldn't wait to meet her friends. Obito was blushing while Kakashi had a look of indifference plastered on his face.

Entering the restaurant they were greeted by Guy. 'My youthful friends, you've finally arrived.'

The table was filled with all their friends, there was Kurenai and Asuma who looked like they were conjoined twins, Anko was stuffing her face with dumplings, Guy was waving out to the group that had just arrived.

'Hey everyone, it's so nice to see all of you.' Rin said with a bright smile on her face.

Kurenai managed to get loose from Asuma before hugging Rin. 'Congratulations, I'm so happy for you.' The scarlet eyed shinobi said before handing her a small parcel. 'This is for you; it's from Asuma and I.'

Rin looked in the direction of the rugged looking boy who nodded at her in acknowledgement.

Guy gave Rin a voucher to a Taijutsu lesson to be taught by him. Anko offered to take her out on a spa date followed by lunch.

Rin turned to face Obito and Kakashi, she extended her arms as if asking for her gifts from them. Kakashi placed a custom made kunai in one hand and a copy of _Makeout Paradise_ in the other. 'The Kunai is from sensei and the book is from yours truly.' He said, crinkling his eyes in the process. She knew him well enough to recognize the expression, it was Kakashi's way of smiling.

She looked at Obito waiting for his gift, 'I kinda forgot to bring it Rin, I'll give it to you later. Sorry.' He said his face red from embarrassment.

'Haha, that's okay Obito.' She replied before turning to face the rest of her friends. 'Alright let's start eating, I'm famished.'

The rest of the afternoon went with the group making small talk and catching up with each other. It had been a while since the whole group had met up like this.

'The festival starts tonight, what say we meet up at 8? Pre-game at Asuma's.' Kurenai asked the group.

Asuma looked at his girlfriend wondering why he got stuck with being the pre-game address. He would now have to clean up his house; Kurenai already knew he was messy so he hardly bothered when she was over; which was pretty much every day.

Everyone agreed to the plan before leaving the restaurant.

'Why did you tell everyone pre-game would be at my place?' Asuma asked his girlfriend when they were walking back; slightly unhappy at having to clean up his apartment.

'It was the only way to get you to clean up the pigsty you call home.' She replied before proceeding to place a kiss on his cheek.

He blushed, before taking her hand in his.

 **. .**

The two boys and Rin were walking slowly on the way to her apartment. They always made sure they dropped her off before heading back to their respective homes.

'So Rin, did you have fun?' Obito asked

'Yes, Thank you for organizing this.' She said happy as ever.

'Well it was Kakashi that planned it with everyone.' Obito replied

'Really?' Rin asked surprised that Kakashi would take the initiative. 'In that case.' she moved towards Kakashi and lightly kissed his cheek.

His eyes widened and he felt the blood rush to his cheek. It was at times like these he was grateful that he wore a face mask. Thankfully no one would know he had grown as red as a tomato.

Obito looked in the other direction, pretending to not have seen what just took place between his friends. Deep inside he felt pangs of jealousy.

The three of them were silent for the rest of the walk back. No one spoke until they finally reached Rin's apartment.

She turned to face them before breaking the silence.

'So I guess I'll see you both later then.'

'Yeah.' Obito replied, Kakashi just nodded in approval.

'Okay then, pick me up at 7.'

Both the boys nodded before bidding goodbye to Rin.

Once inside her apartment, she leaned against her door and began slowly sliding down it before finally sitting on the floor; her back resting against the door. _Why won't he acknowledge me, it's been 6 years for crying out loud. He should have some clue about my feelings for him by now._ Sighing to herself she got up and walked to her bedroom to lie down.

 **. .**

At exactly 7 in the evening she heard a knock on her door. _Exactly on cue_ she thought to herself that could only be one person.

Opening the door, she greeted the young shinobi 'Obito. Hi'. He was wearing a navy blue haori with the Uchiha crest on the back.

'Hi Rin.' He greeted the kunoichi who wore a beautiful purple kimono.

'Where is Kakashi? Did he not come with you?' she asked.

'I don't know, he said he'd meet me here.'

'Knowing him he'll be late as always. Come and wait inside in the meantime. I still have to do my hair.' She said chuckling.

He entered the apartment and sat down on her couch.

'There is tea in the kettle, help yourself to it.' She said before going into her bedroom.

He just sat there looking at the paintings adorning her walls.

10 minutes later she emerged from her room, her hair tied into a ponytail.

'I don't think it makes sense waiting for the fool, let's head over to Asuma's he'll meet us there.' Obito said.

'Okay' she replied as they headed out the door.

There was suddenly a puff of smoke. From it emerged a silver haired shinobi wearing a grey and black haori, his eyes seemed to be glued to the book he held in front of him.

'Sorry about that, I got lost on the path of life.' He said eyes still glued to the book.

'It's fine; you're here now. Let's go or else we'll be late.' Rin replied.

 **. .**

Asuma's house was filled with the musty smell of sweat . As compared to the brightly lit streets that were decorated with lanterns; the light inside the house was dim and it took a few seconds for the new arrivals to get used to.

When their eyes finally adjusted to the light they were able to make out their surroundings. There weren't many people in the house, probably around 10 people. Everyone already seemed under the influence of alcohol, there were people dancing to the beat of the music. They spotted Guy and Anko standing behind the counter pouring shots for everyone. In the corner of the room there was Asuma and Kurenai grinding against each other; both had a bottle of beer and seemed like they were enjoying themselves.

Rin grabbed Kakashi and Obito's arms and guided them towards the bar. Greeting her friends, she took the bottle of vodka from Anko and proceeded to drink the liquor directly from the bottle. She felt the liquor warm her throat before going down. Picking up two shot glasses from the counter she filled it up and gave them to her boys. Complying they downed the shots immediately.

The group spent the next hour getting intoxicated and engaging in casual banter. They were joined by Asuma and Kurenai who were just as drunk as everyone there. She stood in front of him; leaning back against him, his arms were wrapped around her.

'So have you two had enough of your dry humping?' Anko asked with a smirk.

Kurenai just looked at her before giving her the finger. This led to the whole group bursting out laughing.

The crowd had dwindled down, the group of 7 friends were all that remained in the humid apartment.

'I think we're drunk enough to take to the streets.' Obito exclaimed

The group got up and left the dim lit apartment. The street was filled with ninjas and civilians celebrating the festival. Everyone looked happy as they danced to the music playing in the streets. The crowds swarmed the streets; and people danced the night away in their inebriated state.

Manoeuvring though the crowd seemed near impossible; so the group took the rooftops jumping from roof to roof as the crowd below laughed and shouted and made merry.

They soon reached the nightclub. Entering the club they were welcomed by the music beating against their skin, their very core moved with the beat. The club was filled with familiar faces. They even spotted Minato and Kushina dancing with each other.

They grabbed a booth as Rin and Kurenai went to get shots for everyone. The drinks were passed around as the group debated what to toast to.

'To youth.' Guy shouted. He was met by a slap to the back from Kakashi.

'Is that all you talk about?' Kakashi asked his friend as the rest of them laughed at Guy's expense.

'To love.' Kurenai chimed, leading to a peck on the lips from Asuma.

'To love.' The rest of the grouped shouted in unison.

As the night progressed more drinks were passed around, more laughs were shared, and more memories were made. Surviving a war everyone knew how fragile life was to a shinobi, everyday could very well be their last.

Guy left the group to go speak to a girl he spotted at the bar.

As a slow song started to play; the single people cleared the dancefloor while the couples remained. Kurenai pulled Asuma with her and they were soon swaying to the music.

Kakashi got up to accompany Anko to the floor when she tugged at his shirt. The only two left at the table were Rin and Obito.

'May I?' Obito asked with an outstretched palm.

Smiling, Rin took his hand and they walked to the dance floor. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his hand on the small of her back. They gently moved to the music, enjoying each other's company.

From the corner of her eye she saw Kakashi dancing with Anko, even though she knew there was nothing between them and they were just enjoying the night like she was; she couldn't help but feel jealous that she was not the one dancing in Anko's place.

As the song progressed she pulled Obito closer till her head rested against his chest while her hands were wrapped around his back.

They danced for another song before the group decided to call it a night and head back home. Everyone left in groups of two's while Rin, Obito and Kakashi walked back home together.

 **. .**

After dropping Rin off and bidding her goodnight; Kakashi and Obito walked towards their respective homes.

Back in her apartment Rin smiled to herself thinking about the night that had just passed. To say she had fun would be an understatement. She walked off to her bedroom and changed into a loose tee and boxer shorts. Grabbing a glass of water so as to reduce the effect of the morning's hangover to come, she was startled by the sound of a knock at her door.

Opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of someone she didn't expect to see.

'Hi. Is everything alright?' she asked.

'Yeah everything is fine, it's just that I forgot to give you your gift earlier so I figured I'd give it to you now.' The black haired boy replied

Smiling she put out her hand. But before she realised what happened; Obito had closed the distance between them and placed his lips on hers.

She was completely taken aback, not that she didn't like Obito; he was in fact pretty good looking even though the right side of his face was covered with scars from his mishap in the war, she had hoped her first kiss would be stolen by a different teammate of hers; a certain silver haired shinobi.

Cutting out her thoughts; she closed her eyes and pulled his neck to deepen the kiss. _She wasn't going to wait around for a certain someone who may never come; when she had someone who liked her and was at her doorstep when he wasn't._

Grabbing the boy by his shirt, she pulled him into her apartment and closed the door behind them.

...

Little did she know that a certain silver haired shinobi had just witnessed the whole ordeal from the roof in front of her apartment. As soon as she closed the door he got up and started running through the rooftops as fast as his legs could take him. A single tear flew from the corner of his eye. He pulled at his shirt in an attempt to stop the pain he felt. His heart was shattered and there wasn't anything he could do about it. She had made up her mind; it was crystal clear to him, he had seen it with his own eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**So I'm back with the second chapter; I was planning on finishing this by next week but since this story hit a 100 views I decided to finish it earlier. I'm also stoked that my JiraiyaxTsunade one shot hit a 100 views too. If you haven't read it or would like to read it again you can find it in my profile; it's called _'Gamble'._  
**

 **This chapter is a kind of plot/character development. It does have a fair bit of smut in it and revolves around RinxObito.**

 **I enjoyed writing this chapter quite alot and hope you enjoy reading it too.**

 **As always please do review, favorite and follow; it means so much. Cheers!**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: In His Arms.**

 _ **Run**_ _; you have to run if you want to survive. It was all he could think about. It had been 2 days since he managed to escape the godforsaken hell hole. He should have collapsed from fatigue by now, it was the sheer will to survive and fear of being caught and taken back that kept him moving. He had no idea where he was, but he could feel the familiar chakra at his tail; gaining on him._

' _There's no point in running anymore, I can catch you in seconds if I want to.' The voice came from behind him_

' _Why are you doing this? Leave me alone. Please.' He managed to whimper, he hated how weak he sounded._

 _Suddenly a kunai whizzed past him and hit the tree in front of him; from the corner of his eye he noticed the paper bomb that was attached to it but it was too late, a second later there was a loud explosion and he flew back from the shock wave; falling down to the ground. He hit the ground with such force that the wind was knocked out of his lungs. There was suddenly a man standing over him, he wore the headband of the hidden mist village with a slash across the village symbol indicating his status of a rogue nin._

' _Please, let me go, it's been 2 years.'_

 _He suddenly felt the heavy blade on his right shoulder, weighing him down and piercing his skin in multiple places. He felt the blood ooze from his shoulder. Screaming and writhing in pain he wondered how even after 2 years the pain was still as unbearable as the first time._

' _Anyone else would be chopped and fed to the dogs, you're lucky you have the Sharingan. But that doesn't exempt you from the punishment of trying to escape.' He heard the man chuckle, 'The quicker you accept your fate the less painful the process will be, but you already know that don't you… Obito.'_

 _'Obito.'_

 _'Obito.'_

'Obito, wake up.' A voice called to him

His eyes opened and he was brought away from the clutches of the nightmare he was just in. The first thing he saw was someone hovering over him; their hand cupped against his face. His survival instincts kicked in and his Sharingan was activated subconsciously, quickly grabbing the person's arms he pinned the person under him.

'Obito, it's okay, you're safe. It's just me; Rin.'

Looking at the brunette under him he released his grip on her before falling back on the bed. He covered his face with his hands. 'FUCK.' He screamed.

He felt her warm hands cupping his face. 'It was just a dream Obito, it's over.'

Removing his hands from his face he looked at the brunette's face, a stray lock had fallen on her face. He placed his hands on her arms before speaking to her, 'I didn't hurt you did I? I'm so sorry Rin.'

She shook her head. 'You were screaming. I thought you said the nightmares had ended.'

'I don't know, this is the first one I've had in 2 months.'

He felt her thumb rub his cheek; she leaned down and placed a kiss on his forehead before placing her forehead on his. He immediately felt a lot calmer.

'Do you want to talk about it?'

'Not really no.'

'It is easier once you open up Obito. The war was hard on all of us, we all lost part of ourselves in it.' She lifted her head to look him in the eye before continuing, 'I know what we went through was nothing compared to what you had to endure. Three years of torture would have even the best of shinobi begging for death. I want to help you, you're my best friend. Just tell me what happened so I can understand the situation better, it might even make you feel better.'

He was silent. After what felt like an eternity he finally responded. 'I spoke to Minato sensei about it. It was a few months after I was rescued, I spoke about it with him and the interrogation team. Even seeing a shrink didn't help. I don't think I can be normal again; even though I seem fine and jovial around all of you.' He paused for a few seconds. 'I guess some wounds can never be healed.'

'Why don't you tell me Obito; maybe I can help.'

'Maybe another time Rin.' He sat up and forced a smile.

Getting out of bed he went to take his clothes to get ready and leave.

'Where are you going?' the girl asked from the bed.

He turned to face her; she had the sheets wrapped around her to cover her naked body. He couldn't help but admit that she was the most beautiful girl he ever knew and he had to restrain himself from pouncing on her and kissing those luscious lips of hers. 'Um, I was heading home.'

'Don't be ridiculous' the girl said rising out of bed still clutching the sheets. She walked to the dresser and took out a towel before tossing it at the shinobi. 'Go freshen up.'

'It's fine Rin. I'll go home.'

'Go.' She said sternly pointing towards the bathroom. 'There should be a spare toothbrush in the drawer under the sink. I'm making breakfast. But considering it's 12 in the afternoon I guess I'm making brunch.' Rin said smiling as she walked to the kitchen; the sheet dragging behind her. The small of her back looked irresistible.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head he walked towards the bathroom.

 **. .**

The hot water felt amazing as it rolled off his tired muscles. He felt his body relax and he quickly forgot about the nightmares than haunted him just minutes ago. Even though he felt he would never be free from the horrible memories; he had learned how to push them to the furthest recesses of his mind. This helped him feel like nothing had ever happened and the 3 years after the war were just a bad dream. Though it wasn't the best way to deal with the problem it made him feel like himself, like his life was normal.

As the shower washed away the soreness from his muscles that had accumulated from the previous night's adventure he allowed his mind to drift to the events of last night; his interaction with Rin in particular.

He thought about the way her lips felt when he kissed her, the way she bit her lip as he lay trails of kisses on her, the way she dug her nails into him when he sucked on her breasts, the way her ass felt, the way her hips bucked as he grinded against her, the way she moaned as she rode him.

He thought about the way she tasted and her scent; which was a beautiful mix of vanilla and jasmine. He thought about the way she felt nuzzled up to him, her face buried in his chest and her soft breaths that tickled his skin. He loved the way her brown locks fell on her face and the way she smiled. Being with her made him feel complete.

Smiling to himself he got out of the shower. After drying himself he put on his pants before leaving the room. He could get the smell of food wafting out from the kitchen. He heard his stomach growl; he was famished.

 **. .**

Opening the fridge she took out eggs and bacon before placing a pan on the stove to heat up. Considering how hard it was to function with one hand clutching the sheet to her body she went to her room to change.

She wore an oversized tee and underwear. Tying her hair into a bun she proceeded to start making breakfast. She soon started thinking about what happened last night with Obito.

 _Why couldn't it be Kakashi at my door last night? What will it take to get him to notice me? On the other hand Obito is amazing; he's been my best friend ever since I can remember and he did come to me last night unlike Kakashi._

 _But who was the boy I was with last night, that wasn't the Obito I know._ _When did Obito grow into such a stud? The way he kissed me when I answered the door, I'm not surprised I gave in. It wasn't laced with lust, it was tender and passionate. He was actually pretty good with his love making; he was very careful and kept asking me if he was being rough. He had to be good, it isn't easy getting someone to peak twice._ She didn't realise it but her cheeks were flushed.

 _Not to forget his body; it's true most shinobi are in exceptional shape but even then his physique was incredible._ She thought of the way his abdomen felt when she rode him. _He's definitely not slacking off when it comes to that regard. And his scars, he seemed ashamed to have them_ ; _but it made him look more rugged and sexy. The right side of his body felt a bit different as compared to the way flesh feels, it didn't have a bad feel to it; it just felt a tad rougher, but considering what happened in the war I guess it makes sense._

She was brought back to reality by the sound of the bathroom door opening; peering into the bedroom she saw Obito emerge with just a towel wrapped around his waist. His hair was wet and she could see water droplets roll off the curves of his chiselled abs. She looked away but felt her cheeks become an even darker shade of red.

From the corner of her eye she saw him enter the kitchen; he was shirtless and only wore pants. Though the water droplets that had been scattered on his bare torso were dry now; she was still distracted by the sight of his body. Serving the food on two plates she turned to face him.

'Why aren't you wearing a shirt?'

He was slightly fazed by her question but quickly regained his composure, 'Why aren't you wearing pants?' he shot back

Looking down she realised his point and blushed.

'To think you would even ask me such a question after what happened last night.' He said with a smirk.

She lightly punched him in the arm before smiling at him.

He took their plates and walked towards the dining area. She poured them tea before following him.

'Smells good. I'm so hungry.'

'Probably the only time you're not having instant food for a meal.'

He laughed before digging in.

They ate the rest of their meal in silence.

'So, what plans for the rest of the day?' Rin asked; finally breaking the silence.

'Nothing much; just getting ready for tomorrow's mission I suppose.'

'Then it's settled; you're staying here.'

'Huh?' the black haired boy exclaimed unsure what she meant

'Well, you said you had nothing to do and since I don't intend on doing anything you might as well stay here and keep me company.' She said smiling.

'Okay.' He said as he rose, picking up their plates; he went to the sink and started washing them.

'What are you doing? Leave it there; I'll wash them later.' She said rising from her chair holding the cups.

'The cook doesn't clean.' He said taking the cups from her hand.

'Haha is that so? In that case you're coming over for all meals.' she said before kissing his back and heading to sit on the couch. His cheeks flushed and he smiled to himself.

After he was done with the dishes he went and sat on the couch with Rin; she lay on his lap and took his hand in hers playing with his fingers. He played with the locks of her hair as they spoke about anything and everything; the majority of the conversation consisted of reminiscing their days as genin when the world was much more simple.

At around 4 in the evening he sat her up before rising from the couch.

'I ought to pack my stuff for tomorrow's mission. I'll be back later though; I'll get take-out so you don't have to worry about dinner. Okay?'

'Okay.' She said as she rose and gave him a quick peck on the lip. 'Get Ichiraku's I feel like having ramen.'

Smiling he fetched his shirt and put on his sandals and left.

 **. .**

At around 7 there was a knock on her door; opening it she was greeted by Obito holding up two bags with take-out. She pulled him inside the apartment.

'Someone seems excited to see me.' He chuckled

She silenced him with a finger on his lip. Taking the bags from his hand she pushed him on the couch before placing the bags on the counter.

Pulling up her t-shirt; she straddled his hips as she ghosted her lips along his jawline before meeting his lips. She dug her fingers in his hair deepening the kiss; their tongues were busy playing their own little game.

Pushing her at arms length he tried to say something but was silenced by her lips; 'Don't' … 'Talk.' She said in between kisses. Complying immediately he leapt to his feet pulling her up with him; her legs wrapped around his waist in response. Kissing her neck he walked towards the bedroom before sitting down with her on top.

The tender kisses got more frantic. As their mouths trailed over each other's neck; purple marks were left in their wake. The air was filled with passionate moans and groans as they worked on undressing each other.

She gasped when he flipped her off him, nibbling her earlobe he lay down on top of her. She arched her back from the pleasure as she wrapped herself tighter around his waist in an attempt to bring him closer to her. They made love like it was the first time for the both of them. Fingers running through each other's hair, lips leaving trails of kisses all over their torsos.

He slowly entered her; claiming her for himself as she grunted in pleasure. The rhythmic smacking of flesh against each other echoed through the room. Before she realised it she started to feel the pleasant tightening in her gut; she had started to reach her peak.

He was losing control fast; he didn't expect to be done so soon but then again he was completely disordered when it came to her. When she started tightening around him he knew he wouldn't be able to last much longer. He started to feel her pump her hips erratically and he knew what she wanted.

She bit her lips and tried to keep her eyes from closing; he placed his forehead against hers looking deep into her hazel eyes, he felt a bead of sweat roll off his temple onto hers.

He felt his groin getting soaked; she had cum on him. He was done in another few thrusts. A low groan tore from his mouth as he exploded into her. He collapsed beside her, his face buried in her hair. The room was quiet except for the fast pants that they were letting out. He took her lips in his for a deep kiss, stopping after a while to catch their breath. Nuzzling into her neck he closed his eyes.

 **. .**

Opening her eyes she looked at the clock on her wall, it was 8; she had slept for 10 minutes. She felt her neck being tickled by Obito's breath. Lightly caressing his cheek she kissed him. His eyes fluttered open from the sudden contact. Smiling at her he got off her before putting on his pants and going to get the food from the counter.

When he returned to the room she was sitting on the bed wearing his shirt. He was holding two bowls of ramen. Giving her a bowl; he sat besides her leaning against the headboard.

After dinner they lay in bed, she was snuggled up in his arm as his fingers drew circles on her back. She peered into his onyx eyes and smiled before burying her face in his chest.

 _So what if he wasn't Kakashi; he was here and that's all that mattered._ She exhaled and soon fell asleep in his arms.

* * *

 **Well I hope you enjoyed that. I shall start working on the next chapter soon.**

 **If you have any opinions/suggestions feel free to leave them in a review or send me a message.**

 **Also don't forget to follow and favorite the story. Thanks.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Ladies and Gentlemen; I present to you chapter 3 of Love Triangle. I'd like to thank all of you that reviewed the story so far. It makes me happy knowing that you guys are enjoying the story.**

 **I'm not going to provide a synopsis for this chapter as it will ruin the story.**

 **As always please Review, Favorite and Follow. It means a lot.**

 **Cheers! (:**

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** **The Mission - Part 1.**

She woke up to the sound of the alarm ringing loud in her ears. Turning it off; she groaned as she stretched the laziness out of her body. On the other side of the room she saw the curtains swaying in the wind that entered through the open balcony. She looked at the clock beside her table; it was 5:30.

Throwing her legs out of bed she put on Obito's shirt before walking to the balcony. She could see his taut back muscles as he leaned against the railings. Walking up to him she wrapped her arms around his waist as she laid her head against him.

'Good morning beautiful.' The black haired boy said before turning to face her.

'Morning.' She replied standing on her toes as she kissed him.

Bringing her between himself and the railings; he placed his hands on the railings creating a barrier on her sides.

Staring into the horizon they watched as the sun rose from under its misty veil; illuminating the darkness that covered the earth. They watched as civilians started to exit their homes; getting an early start on the day's activities. They stood for about 10 minutes before Rin broke away from him.

'I'm going for a shower.' She said as she walked back into her bedroom; turning for the briefest of moments she looked at Obito before turning back, 'Care to join me?'

He felt a smile tug at his lips as he followed her back in; closing the balcony door behind him.

 **. .**

'You're allowed to enter you know.'

'Just change quickly and come, we're already late as it is.'

After having breakfast at Rin's they made their way to Obito's place so that he could change into his shinobi attire and pick up his provisions for the mission.

'Come inside Rin.' He repeated himself

'No way; if I enter your house you'll take it as an excuse to waste more time. Besides, we're supposed to be at the Hokage tower in 15 minutes.'

Obito emerged from his room 5 minutes later wearing the jounin attire complete with the flak jacket. He had his hitai-ate pulled down to cover his left eye. Even though his left eye was replaced by that of his father's after his death; he wore his hitai-ate like that of Kakashi's when he went on missions.

Kakashi had insisted that he transplant his eye back to himself after he returned to the village; he refused stating that it was his gift to Kakashi on becoming jounin.

Locking the door behind him; they proceeded towards the Hokage tower to rendezvous with Kakashi.

 **. .**

Kakashi had spent the previous day trying to distract himself from thoughts about Rin. He tried training, took up Guy on one of his challenges and even resorted to his most trustworthy _Makeout Paradise;_ but all his efforts were futile.

In the evening as he walked towards the market to pick up dinner he noticed Obito exit Ichiraku's holding two bags of takeout. He sighed; even though he didn't want to admit it he knew Obito was most likely having dinner with Rin. Quickly picking up dinner from yakiniku he made his way back to his apartment.

Locking the door behind him he took off his sandals before placing the food on the counter. He entered his bedroom and lay on the bed as he let his mind finally wander.

 _What if I had gone to her place a few seconds earlier? Maybe I would be having dinner with her instead of him. I know she likes me; she has been throwing hints my way ever since we were kids. Why couldn't I have made up my mind earlier?_

Sighing he got out of bed and changed into a tee and sweatpants for bed. Serving himself his dinner he walked to the balcony as he ate. Looking into the starry night he mentally cursed himself for not acting sooner.

 _Maybe it is better this way. Maybe she likes Obito more; why else would she pull him in. But she was also probably drunk yesterday... Kakashi this isn't like you; pining over a girl._ He let out a chuckle at the mess Rin had made him.

 _I should just be happy for them; they are my best friends after all. If they find happiness in each other it's best that I be happy for them._

Smiling at his decision he cleared the dishes before walking back to his room. He changed into casual clothes; picked up his keys and left the house.

 _I wonder what Anko is doing tonight._ He thought to himself as he made his way to her house.

 **. .**

He woke up at the break of dawn. He slipped out of bed carefully so as not to wake the purple haired kunoichi lying next to him. He started to get dressed when he heard the shuffling of feet coming from behind him. Turning around he was met by a completely naked Anko walking towards him; her eyes still half closed.

'What time do you have to report for your mission?'

'7:30' he replied

'Staying for breakfast?' she asked before letting out a yawn.

'I suppose I could.' He said as he smiled; his eyes crinkling in the process

She picked up his shirt from the floor and threw it on, buttoning the top and bottom buttons, before heading to the kitchen.

They sat on the couch eating the oatmeal Anko had prepared. Her legs were spread on his lap as she ate with her eyes closed. After they were done she took his plate and headed to the sink.

Unbuttoning his shirt she tossed it at him. 'Don't you have a mission to get ready for.' She said flashing a smile his way.

Smiling back he stared at her naked body admiring the way her curves looked in the early morning light.

Anko caught his eyes wandering over her body. 'It's been a year since we started doing this Kakashi and you still stare.' She said chuckling

'I like to admire the little things in life.'

'Are you saying my boobs are small?' she asked glaring at him in a way to say your next words decide whether you live.

'N-No; that's not what I meant.'

Anko couldn't help but laugh at how flustered Kakashi got. She liked to get a rise out of him. 'You make this too easy Kakashi … Anyways; don't you have somewhere you have to be.'

'You're not very nice.' He said rising from the couch as he buttoned his shirt.

'See you next time you need a midnight booty call.' She said smiling.

'You know that's not what you are.' he said as he walked towards her.

'I know.' she said; closing the distance between them. 'But I like seeing your face when you're caught off guard.' She planted a kiss on his lips.

After breaking the kiss he walked towards the front door to leave.

'Kakashi.' She said; the silver haired nin turned to face her. 'Don't get worked up over Rin; if it's meant to happen it will.'

He smiled before leaving. He was glad he had this no strings attached relationship with Anko. In a way; she understood him better than anyone else did.

 **. .**

As he entered the Hokage's room; he was greeted by Rin ad Obito.

'Why are you always late Kakashi?' Obito asked

'Sorry about that; I was helping a kitten that was stuck in a tree.'

'Yeah right.'

'Alright Obito that's enough; he's here now.' The hokage said

'You're too nice sensei… I mean lord hokage. Every time he's late he gives some preposterous excuse.' Obito scoffed.

'It wasn't too long ago that I remember the roles being reversed and you being the one who was always late.' Minato said with a smile.

'Alright can we proceed with the mission debriefing now.' Rin interjected.

'Yes-Yes.' Minato said, 'The mission is a B rank escort mission, and the person you'll be escorting is the famous doctor Zaku. He's requested protection from rogue ninjas till he reaches the village hidden in the mist.'

The three of them nodded,

'Alright then; please send in our visitor.' The hokage said.

A door slid open and a short fat man walked in. He was wearing a grey suit and round glasses. 'Doctor; these jounin will be your bodyguards for the mission. You may leave as soon as you need.'

The man looked in the direction of the three of them before flashing a polite smile. 'Thank you.' He said to the hokage as the four of them exited the office.

 **. .**

They had been travelling for over a day now; they hoped to reach the hidden mist by nightfall. They hadn't encountered any enemy shinobi yet; but that wasn't surprising considering they had crossed the Land of Fire border just a few hours ago.

'We can't afford to drop our guard; we're no longer in our nation anymore.' Kakashi said

'Yeah, yeah; we know.' Obito responded.

After a few hours they stopped for a break to have lunch. Barely 5 minutes had passed when the three jounin suddenly became tense.

'Do you sense that?' Rin whispered.

'Yeah; but don't do anything to let them know we've noticed their presence.' Kakashi said. 'Mr Zaku; don't worry. We're here with you for a reason.'

'I can sense 6 of them.' Obito said; his right eye was blood red and there were three tomoe around his pupil.

'Don't pull up your hitai-ate yet Obito; they will know they've been spotted if you do.' Kakashi said

'I know.'

Suddenly a bunch of kunai came at them from the tree behind them. Quickly pulling out their own kunai; Kakashi and Obito deflected them all.

'Rin protect Mr Zaku; Kakashi and I will handle the attackers.' Obito said.

Rin immediately jumped into a defensive stance in front of Mr Zaku; holding senbons in her hands. Obito pulled up his hitai-ate to uncover his left eye revealing the sharingan in that eye.

A second round of kunai came from the bushes around them. They deflected them with ease. As soon as the kunai were deflected they noticed a man coming down on Rin and Zaku from above. Rin quickly threw him off his path by tossing senbons his way. The man landed on his hand; rotating on them he jumped back and drew a kunai of his own.

Suddenly four more nin emerged from the bushes around them. They all wore the hidden mist headband with a slash along the village symbol. Obito was immediately flustered as memories flooded his mind.

'They all have strong chakras so we cannot afford to go easy on them; this is going to take our full effort.' Kakashi said as he raised his hitai-ate revealing his sharingan. 'Obito; focus.'

Obito quickly composed himself.

'Look who we have here boys; it's Kakashi of the sharingan and Obito Uchiha. Your names are in our bingo books.' The man near Rin said. 'If you hand over Zaku; we shall let you leave unharmed.'

'And what makes you think we're going to do that.' Obito retorted.

'Well there is no harm in trying to end this peacefully.' He replied. As soon as he finished his sentence one of the nin leapt in the direction of Obito.

Quickly weaving hand signs Obito brought a hand to his mouth 'Firestyle: Phoenix Flower jutsu.' A flurry of fire balls shot towards the direction of his attacker. The nin dodged it; but Obito hadn't noticed a second attacker coming at him from behind. Kakashi moved to obstruct the second nin's path but was blocked by the other two nin who were weaving signs.

By the time Obito managed to turn around the nin was a few feet from him; _too little time to react_ he thought. Suddenly the enemy nin fell face first into the dirt in front of him his body was twitching. Obito stared at the nin at his feet in shock; there was white foam at the side of his mouth and his eyes were rolled back into their socket. On looking closer Obito noticed two senbons sticking out from the nin's neck. He turned to look at Rin; she had another pair of senbon in her hand and was focused on the nin in front of her.

 _He was hit by Rin's poison tipped senbons; I'm sure of it. If it weren't for her I would have been dead now._ He turned around to face the nin that had attacked him earlier.

'CHIDORI.' Kakashi charged at one of the nin. Before the nin realised what happened Kakashi's hand emitting lightning was through the nin's chest. He looked at Kakashi; his eyes wide in horror as he coughed up blood.

The other nin that was attacking Kakashi stopped weaving signs; his hands dropped to his sides as he looked around the battlefield in shock wondering how their advantage was nullified so fast.

He quickly regained his composure and started forming hand signs. 'Ushi, Saru, U, Ne , I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne, Jin, Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, I, Tori.'

Kakashi focused his attention on the attacker, 'Ushi, Saru, U, Ne , I, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Tori, Ne, Tora, Inu, Tora, Mi, Ushi, Hitsuji, Mi, I, Hitsuji, Ne, Jin, Saru, Tori, Tatsu, Tori, Ushi, Uma, Hitsuji, Tora, Mi, Ne, Saru, U, I, Tatsu, Hitsuji, Ne, Ushi, Saru, Tori, Jin, Ne, I, Tori.'

The nin was immediately taken aback at the speed of Kakashi's handsigns and the fact that he was doing the exact same jutsu.

'Waterstyle: Water Dragon jutsu.' They both shouted in unison. Soon two water dragons were formed and battled it out with each other.

Obito had managed to overpower his opponent and stuck a kunai in his chest; killing the nin. Rin was holding her own against her opponent while protecting Zaku.

After a few more back and forth rounds Kakashi managed to kill his opponent with a round of kunai. As soon as Kakashi drove the last kunai through the nin's chest a demon wind shuriken emerged from a tree in front and flew past him.

By the time he reacted; the shuriken had hit its mark and a huge gash was formed on Obito's back. The shuriken had caused a deep cut; and blood seeped through his vest. Obito dropped to his knees; wincing in pain as he coughed up blood.

Before he realized what came over him Kakashi was running towards the tree at blinding speed; his right hand emitting a bright stream of chakra. The tomoe in his left eye had come together to form a kaleidoscopic pattern. His senses augmented by the new sharingan.

Everyone ceased fighting when they heard the shrill scream of a person being thrown from a tree, blood gushing from the hole in his chest. He was followed by a silver haired nin jumping at him; chidori still activated as he drove it through the nin's face. The scream immediately became muffled as the nin's body jerked before coming to a halt.

All eyes were on Kakashi. He looked up from the body and in the direction of the last remaining rogue nin. The bloodlust in Kakashi seemed insatiable at the moment. Leaping onto his feet he charged at the enemy nin and in a flash the last enemy was lying dead on the ground, his head severed from his body.

Rin and Zaku stared at Kakashi in absolute shock. The chakra from his hand slowly receded before going off as Kakashi fell to his knees. Rin immediately ran towards Obito pulling out the shuriken, as she hovered her hands over the wound. Her palms lit up emitting a green aura as she started to heal the gash. He had lost a lot of blood and was lying on the ground from fatigue.

Pulling down his hitai-ate, Kakashi walked towards his team before sitting down. After about 15 minutes Rin was done healing Obito. Helping Obito up to his feet the trio walked towards Zaku who was sitting down against a tree.

'I'm sorry about that.' He said. 'I'm glad your friend was able to heal you; I would have felt horrible if the injury was fatal.'

'There's no need to be sorry; it's our job to protect you. The wound thankfully didn't hit any vital spots but I did lose a lot of blood. I'm good to travel now though.'

'If all else goes fine we should reach the village by nightfall.' Kakashi said.

 **. .**

They were an hour away from the village. The mission had gone smoothly except for the enemy attack a few hours ago. The team was ready to complete the mission so they could rest at an inn in Kirigakure and return the next day to Konoha; when suddenly they all stopped dead in their tracks. Nearby they sensed an exceptionally powerful chakra.

'Do you guys sense that?' Rin asked.

'Yeah; it's impossible to miss a chakra signature that powerful.' Kakashi replied.

Obito stood frozen; a familiar chill ran down his spine. 'I recognize that chakra.' He said

As soon as the words had left his mouth the leaves rustled and a figure emerged from the bushes in front of them. He was a tall nin standing at around 6'4", he wore the hidden mist jounin uniform but his hitai-ate had a slash along the village symbol. He had a distinctive shark like appearance complete with pale blue skin color. He also had a massive sword wrapped in bandages strapped to his back.

'Well, well; look who we have here. I knew I sensed a familiar chakra; but I never expected to find you of all people.' The nin grinned. 'It's been way too long hasn't it… Obito.'


	4. Chapter 4

**So here is chapter 4. This is one chapter I've anticipated writing. I hope it's all a big surprise to you and that you enjoy reading it. I love reading your reviews; it feels amazing to know that you like the story. Thank you so much for them.**

 **PLEASE REVIEW, FAVORITE & FOLLOW. **

**Cheers! (:**

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Revelations.**

 ** _The day before the mission…_**

They had just finished eating dinner. Obito was in the kitchen clearing away the dishes. Sitting on her bed; Rin was deep in thought.

 _Should I ask him about it. He always pushes the topic away; but he needs to open up about it. I wonder if he'll tell me this time._ Sighing; she got out of bed and headed to the washroom.

When she entered the room again she was greeted by a shirtless Obito lying in her bed. Getting into bed she extended her arms towards him; 'Come, warmth.'

He felt his lips curve upwards in a smile as he scooted closer to her before wrapping his arms around her petite torso. She laid her head on his chest as her fingers traced the ridges of his abs. They lay quietly in their embrace for the next few minutes.

Looking down at her face he noticed her thoughts lay elsewhere while her face donned a look of concern. Pulling her chin up to look at him; he broke her out of her trance. Placing a kiss on her lips; he broke the silence. 'What's troubling you?'

She hesitated before speaking; 'If I ask you something will you answer me?'

He was quiet for a while, after a minute he finally spoke. 'You're going to ask me about what happened after the war aren't you?' he asked with a pained look in his eyes.

Propping herself up on her elbows she placed a hand on his cheek and gently caressed it; rubbing her thumb along his cheekbone. 'Please tell me what happened Obito. I want to know, no; I need to know. You're my best friend and I can't help you unless you tell me what it is that took place after the war.'

He was silent yet again. Sitting up he leaned against the headboard before closing his eyes. The images after the war kept flashing through his mind. Letting out a sigh he opened his eyes. By now Rin was sitting as well; staring at him. He bent an outstretched leg to rest his elbow on while his hand cupped the side of his face. He took a deep breath wondering if Rin was right, wondering if it will truly be possible to get over what happened; if he really would feel better after he opened up.

He sighed, 'If you need to know what happened I will have to start from the beginning.' She sat up straight as soon as he started speaking, looking straight at him; trying to decipher every emotion that crossed his face.

He looked in her eyes before continuing. 'Darkness; that's the first thing I remember after I heard you and Kakashi leave, your chakras fading in the distance. I felt peaceful, like there was nothing left unfinished; I had saved Kakashi and you after all. I was just waiting to be taken from this world.' He stopped; feeling like he had already said too much.

After a few seconds he spoke again. 'I'm sorry; I haven't spoken about it in detail to anyone before… I just had to tell the Intel division the bare minimum about what happened.'

She took his hand in hers and gently rubbed her thumb over his knuckles. 'It's okay Obito; take your time. I'm not going anywhere.' She smiled.

He smiled back. 'I'm not sure how long I was out there; it was definitely a few hours. I no longer felt the crushing pain, it was like all my senses had gone numb. I couldn't see anything to top it off. I kept slipping in and out of consciousness so many times that I lost count. I started to believe that this was what death felt like.' He paused briefly. 'The next thing I remember was waking up in a bed. My eyes were bandaged so I couldn't see anything, but I could hear a few machines like those in hospitals and the sound of water dripping nearby. I couldn't move, my hands and legs were strapped down and my body felt too heavy.' His hand slipped from hers as he brought it up to rub his face.

'As soon as I had regained consciousness I heard footsteps approaching, they stopped somewhere in the room; soon after which I heard a few buttons being pressed and the sound of liquid draining, I could feel it enter my system; I guess I was hooked onto some tubes and IVs. Someone spoke to me after that; his voice sounded so cold it sent shivers down my spine every time I heard it. He said his name was Orochimaru; one of the three legendary sannin of the leaf.'

He saw Rin gasp at the mention of his captors name. Orochimarus reputation preceded him. Everyone knew about the inhumane experiments he conducted in the leaf before he was caught by the Third Hokage and forced to flee the village.

'He told me he had healed the right side of my body and that I would be able to leave the room soon. I tried speaking to him but nothing came out from my mouth. I didn't know how long it had been since I had opened my mouth. As if reading my thoughts he told me that I should go to sleep and all my questions would be answered once I had healed. I obliged thinking he was helping me and I'd get to meet you and Kakashi soon. How would I know what was in store for me.' He let out a chuckle as he looked at his palms.

Shaking his head he continued. 'The first few days out of bed were hard; it was like I was in a different body and in some ways I guess it was true. Orochimaru told me his partner had found me crushed underneath the boulder; the right side of my body was paralysed and pretty much useless. He told me he managed to infuse some cells into my body that healed the right side of my body; the cells formed a sort of second skin on the right side. He kept having me undergo tests and experiments; at the time he told me it was for me to heal completely, little did I know I had been made into one of his lab rats. He treated me pretty well for the first 3 months I was there; I had my own room, three meals a day, he even took care of my training and helped me get accustomed to my body. I was happy; he said once I was healed completely I could return to the village, I couldn't wait. But everything went downhill when his partner returned.' The memories of the torture replayed itself in his head. He wasn't sure if he should speak anymore, but her fingers wrapped around his as if telling him he should let it all out.

'His name was Kisame Hoshigaki; a rogue ninja from the village hidden in the mist' I knew because of the slash on his hitai-ate. He didn't beat around the bush like Orochimaru did; he got straight to the point. The first day he got back was the worst day for me. He took me to this room strapped me down to a chair and started interrogating me. He wanted to know about the leaf village. At first I refused to tell him anything and that's when I was introduced to his blade for the first time; Samehada. The blade was jagged all over; it cut you up in multiple places on contact, it also stole your chakra from you. Eventually I gave in and told him whatever I knew.' He bit the bottom of his lip and looked up as he felt tears well in his eyes threatening to spill over. Leaning his head back he closed his lids as he felt them fall down his face. He felt her hands cupping his face as her thumbs brushed away the tear drops on his cheeks.

'This guy was the most sadistic bastard I have ever met. He continued to torture me even though I had nothing more to tell him, he already knew everything I could tell him about the leaf. He said it pleased him; he said he enjoyed torturing people. I was his favorite he said as I was the most resilient among all the lab rats at Orochimarus disposal and that every time I cracked his pleasure was that which resembled ecstasy. Orochimaru continued his experiments on me. He said having the sharingan will help him greatly in his dream of acquiring all the jutsus in the world. I don't remember what happened most of the time. I complied only because I had begun to accept that as my reality, all hope of coming back to the leaf had vanished completely.' He was shaking by now; his fists clenched tight until his knuckles turned white. He was writhing with anger at how he had been treated and how he lacked the strength to fight against it. His tears were flowing much more freely now. When he looked up at Rin he could see the tears in her eyes too. _What must she be thinking about me?_ He wondered. _How could she want to be next to me, I have become such a pathetic excuse for a shinobi; letting my emotions get the better of me._

He dropped his gaze from her; ashamed. She took his hand in hers; but he pulled away. Sitting on her knees she crawled closer to him before straddling his legs as she sat on his lap. She took his face in her hands and gently turned it towards her own. 'Don't act tough and hide your wounds…' He brought his eyes to meet hers, 'I'm always watching you, you know.' She said as she placed her forehead against his.

After a few minutes he spoke again. 'It happened 3 years ago…'

'Huh?' Rin pulled back so she could look at him when he spoke.

'I woke up to the sound of explosions nearby. Everyone was startled by it. Before I knew it there was one outside my room, my wall had been blown off in the process leaving dust and rubble in its wake. I don't know what came over me; I guess I acted purely on my instinct to survive. I knew very well what happened to those who tried to escape from the hideout but I had to do it. This was the best opportunity I had ever had in my 2 years of being there. Before I knew it I was running through the trees as fast as I could, I didn't know where I was going all I knew is that I had to get as far away from the hideout as I could. On the way I ran into a few guys from the hideout, they were trying to escape just like me. For some reason they decided I was their best bet and ran with me, I didn't know them that well they were just faces I recognized. We ran for over a day without any breaks and that's when it started. Kisame was on our trail; two of the four guys who joined me decided to stay back and buy us some time, I didn't even know them yet they gave up their lives for our shot at freedom.' Tears started falling down his face once again.

'Before long it was just me running; the others had been taken down by him but i never looked back. It was well over 2 days now; I was running on reserves. I had just stopped for 20 minutes in between to rest. I don't know how I hadn't collapsed from fatigue yet. It wasn't long before Kisame had caught up to me, suddenly a kunai whizzed past me and hit a tree ahead; there was a paper bomb attached to it and a second later there was an explosion causing me to fall to the ground. He slammed his blade into me barely giving me any time to recover from the fall. I felt my chakra being drained and soon everything was dark; just like in the beginning. I knew I couldn't have died as they needed my sharingan; they wouldn't kill me but how I wished they did kill me back then.' He paused to catch his breath. 'When I woke up I could see the sun shining above; its rays filtering through the leaves, I felt warm and safe. Looking carefully I found myself in Minato senseis arms. He looked down at me and said everything would be fine now; believing him I fell back to sleep. When I woke up again I was in a hospital bed, it was by pure luck I was found. They had received intel about one of Orochimaru's hideouts and attacked it, though Orochimaru and a lot of his subordinates escaped they did create a massive dent in his research work. It was on their way back to the leaf that sensei picked up my chakra signature and he came to my rescue. He told me Kisame had managed to escape but that didn't matter to me; I was home. I was safe and could see you and Kakashi and my parents, that was all that mattered to me.'

When he finally finished speaking he felt Rin pull him into an embrace. His head was resting on her chest as she held him as tight as she could; her tears rolling off her face onto his. He wrapped his arms around her and they just sat there in each others arms for the longest period of time.

That night was the most peaceful he had ever slept.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N.** Sorry for the long delay guys. I normally try and get out one chapter every 4-5 days. Before we get ahead with the story there are a few things I need to say.

1\. I know it's been 9 days since the last update; I never intended to delay the writing but I started reading a shikatema fic after posting the last update _(They're my favorite couple and I love quality shikatema fics so let me know if you got any good ones.)_ and this story was by far one of the best I've ever read. After I finished the storys last chapter I lost all motivation to write; the story really hit me. I highly recommend it to any shikatema fans and non shikatema fans out there, it's such a beautiful story. It's called **_The Torn by ShatteredAwe._ **

2\. This chapter is dedicated to **_mississippimudpiecraves_** for making my day and giving me the motivation required to finish the chapter today. This author was the first person to ever review one of my stories. Such a supportive reader; has given me feedback on all my stories. Thank you so much it is highly appreciated. So a massive shoutout to one of the best authors who has written some of the best shikatema fics out there. Do check out their stories you won't regret it, trust me.

3\. The Mission arc was supposed to be a 2 part; but when I was writing this chapter a lot of ideas kept popping into my head and it became much longer, so I have made it a 3 part and shall have this arc completed by next the chapter which I will try and write within the next 2-3 days but no promises.

 **4\. With the end of the Mission arc I would have completed the first phase of the story; I plan on having 3 phases to the story. The problem is I don't have a lot of ideas for the 2nd phase of the story and this is where I need your help. I would really appreciate it if you guys hit me up with suggestions on how to progress with the story; leave them in reviews or send me a private message but please do give me some suggestions I would be extremely grateful if you would do so. So I'm looking forward to receiving some of your amazing ideas.**

5\. POINT NUMBER 4 IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SO PLEASE READ IT IF YOU HAVEN'T. So after the next chapter is out I'll hold off writing for another week so as to get time to work on the ideas.

6\. There may be a few spelling and grammar errors; I wrote this rather fast. So let me know if you find any.

7\. Do people even read authors notes; I really hope you guys do.

8\. AND NOW THE USUAL... **READ, REVIEW, FAVORITE & FOLLOW**. It makes such a big difference. Thank you.

 **Without further ado; proceed and enjoy the chapter. Cheers! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 5: The Mission - Part 2.**

The group was moving as fast as they could. They had to reach Kirigakure by nightfall. Kakashi, Rin and Obito were all on their guard looking out for anything out of the ordinary in their surroundings. After the mess that transpired a few hours ago; neither one of the trio were in the mood of running into any more enemy ninjas.

Obito was especially drained considering the injury he suffered in the battle with the rogue mist shinobis. Kakashi was equally exhausted from the encounter; using the mangekyo sharingan took its toll on the wielder, even though he was unaware of his newfound abilities, he just assumed his actions were in the heat of the moment and stemmed from the fear of losing his best friend yet again.

'Sorry we are rushing the journey Mr Zaku; it's just that we all would rather avoid another situation like earlier and we would all be much more at ease knowing you are safe and well looked after within the village under the protection of the hidden mist ninjas.' Rin spoke breaking the silence that had enveloped the atmosphere ever since the group started moving again.

'It's okay Rin; I understand. Truth be told I'd much rather sleep in a comfortable bed tonight as compared to in a sleeping bag on the forest floor.' He replied smiling at the girl. 'How are you feeling now Obito?' He asked, looking in the direction of the black haired boy.

Lost in thought Obito was unaware that he was being spoken to.

'Obito.' Kakashi said loudly snapping his friend out of his trance.

'Huh? Sorry. What happened?'

'Pay attention, we can't handle another encounter. Keep on guard.'

'Yeah, sorry about that.' He replied rubbing the back of his head. 'I'm sorry Mr Zaku; I was lost in thought. What did you say?'

'Oh it's fine; I was just wondering if you were feeling better now.'

'Much better; though it still hurts but I'll survive.' he said smiling.

'That's good. If you'd like I can make an ointment for your cut once we reach the village, it'll help with the healing and won't leave a scar.'

'You could do that; that would be swell. I've heard all about your healing ointments, they are quite famous.'

'Yeah; we use them all the time in the medical core. They really are quite extraordinary, makes our job so much easier considering the number of careless ninjas we have just like Obito here.' Rin said laughing at her wisecrack.

Obito pouted while Mr Zaku laughed at their childish behaviour.

'Thank you. You three are much better company than the last escorts I had. They never spoke; made the journey seem so long and boring. Your friend there reminds me of them.' he said pointing his thumb at the silver haired boy in front of them.

Rin and Obito exchanged glances before bursting out laughing at the expense of their friend.

Kakashi full well knew they were speaking about him; he wouldn't be a very good ninja if he wasn't able to hear their conversation. He chose to ignore them until his friends started laughing.

He turned back to glare at his teammates in an attempt to shut them up. Looking at Kakashi scowl at them caused the two of them to laugh even louder.

'Come on Kakashi, lighten up a little.'

'Kakashi never lightens up, haven't you learnt anything yet Rin.'

'Alright enough now. All this unwanted noise will just attract attention. I have no intention of engaging anymore enemy ninjas.'

'Okay, okay. Sorry captain.' Rin said still chuckling.

'We are an hour away from the hidden mist village Kakashi. Don't worry the mission is as good as done.'

'Hmpf,' was all Kakashi muttered before he looked ahead and focused on their surroundings.

Rin and Obito continued making small talk with Mr Zaku, though they made a conscious effort of making much less noise while scanning their surrounding at the same time.

Obito zoned out from the conversation when the other two started discussing medicinal herbs used in his ointments. He started scanning for any strong chakra signatures when he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks.

He had sensed an exceptionally powerful chakra and for some reason it seemed eerily familiar.

 _Such a massive chakra signature, this can't be good. Why does it feel like I've come across this particular chakra before._ Obito thought to himself.

He noticed the rest of the group had stopped as well; Kakashi and Rin seemed to be on guard ready to engage any enemy that crossed their path.

 _They have sensed the chakra too._ He thought.

'Do you guys sense that?' Rin asked.

'Yeah; it's impossible to miss a chakra signature that powerful.' Kakashi replied.

That's when it finally dawned on him, the reason he recognized the chakra. Why had it taken him so long for the familiarity of the chakra to register; he should have been able to recognize the chakra almost instantaneously.

A shiver ran down his spine as the memories of his torture replayed itself in his mind.

 **. .**

' _So weak… What a pitiful excuse for an Uchiha.'_

 _Slash… Yet another cut to his body, he wasn't sure if he could differentiate the pain of the new cut from the others, it all felt the same. He felt dizzy from all the blood loss; he'd probably lose consciousness soon. The torture process had become such a common occurrence he could predict when he'd black out and the process would end._

 _He heard another voice come from the room; one that had a rather evil undertone. 'That's enough now Kisame; I have no intention of losing the Uchiha brat.'_

...

 _He woke up to his hands being bound by a mysterious figure; he was yanked out of bed and dragged through the hallway by his feet._

' _What is going on? Who are you? What do you want?' he spoke as he kicked; trying to break free from the persons grasp._

 _The person paid no heed to Obitos shouts and continued to drag him along the hallway. Obito noticed that he was being dragged in the direction of the forbidden section of the hideout._

 _He continued kicking and squirming in an attempt to get free._

 _The guy opened the door to a room and grabbed Obito by his collar before weaving some hand signs. Obito was immediately surrounded by a body of water. The liquid was extremely dense making it impossible for him to move. Moreover his hands were still bound which left Obito helpless._

 _He was trapped inside for almost 5 minutes now, he had lost his breath some time ago and was starting to fade; suddenly he felt the water prison break and he fell to the floor gasping for air._

 _He tried to get to his feet but collapsed back down still gasping for air. He found it difficult to get up given the lack of oxygen and the fact that his hands were still tied up._

 _He found his head being yanked up by his hair; he winced at the pain._

' _It's nice to finally meet you Uchiha.'_

 _Opening his eyes he looked at the man. 'Who are you?'_

 _Slash; he felt a cut across his cheek. 'You shall only speak when spoken to.'_

' _WHAT DO YOU WANT?' he yelled._

 _He received another cut; this time across his chest._

' _You don't really understand instructions do you? You don't speak unless I want you to. Also you ought to think twice before angering someone who has control over your life; so you better watch your tone.'_

' _Orochimaru will kill you when he finds out.'_

' _That's funny, he would kill me for harming his lab rats? Highly unlikely. I'll let you in on a secret; he was the one who told me where I could find you.'_

 _He felt another slash across his left arm. 'Also, I told you not to speak first.'_

 _Obito didn't respond, he just shut his eyes from the pain._

' _That's better. Now tell me everything you know about the hidden leaf village.'_

...

 _He felt his body move back from the impact of the kick; his body was swinging back and forth._

 _He was hanging upside-down from the ceiling; his body suspended from the roof by chains attached to his ankles._

 _He spat out the blood that was in his mouth. 'Fuck Kisame; I told you I don't know anything more. How do you expect me to have new intel when I've been locked up in this hell hole for the past 2 years.'_

 _He felt another kick across his chest causing him to swing back again._

' _I don't know; maybe there is something that you haven't told me yet.'_

 _He struggled to bend his head to look Kisame in the eye. 'Whatever, just get this over with already you sadistic bastard. We both know full well you just needed a punching bag.'_

 _Smack; he felt a punch across his jaw; causing the blood to trickle down his face._

' _If you say so brat.'_

 _With that Obito felt a flurry of kicks and punches and soon he was fading away from consciousness. Atleast today's session would be over soon considering he was nearly out._

 _He heard another voice in the room but he was almost out and couldn't focus on who it was; much less on what was being said but he was sure it was Orochimaru._

 _ **. .**_

'Obito' he was brought back to the present by the sound of Rins voice.

'Huh? Sorry.'

'Are you alright? You've been spacing out a lot ever since we encountered the mist shinobi earlier.' Kakashi said.

'Yeah I'm alright.'

'Okay then; we were talking about the powerful chakra nearby so we have to stay on guard.'

'If the fact that it is so powerful isn't bad enough the chakra seems to be getting closer to us.' Rin said

'I recognize that chakra.'

The group immediately turned to face Obito.

'You don't mean that chakra belongs to…' Rin said as she started to walk closer to Obito.

'Yeah.' He said nodding. His face had gotten pale.

Kakashi was concerned by the sudden change in his teammates expressions. He didn't know what they were speaking about and he hoped the conclusion he had come to was wrong.

'Don't worry, keep focused. We are with you this time.' Rin said as she stroked his arm

It was what he feared; it was one of Obitos captors. Kakashi immediately lifted up his hitai-ate to reveal his sharingan. If this chakra belonged to one of Obitos captors they were definitely not allies and he had to be ready for anything.

Suddenly the leaves rustled as a figure emerged from the bushes in front of them. He was a tall man standing at around 6'4", he wore the hidden mist jounin uniform but his hitai-ate had a slash along the village symbol. He had a pale blue skin color and held a massive sword wrapped in bandages.

Once he was standing in front of the group he scanned the shinobi in front of him; he grinned when he spotted Obito.

'Well, well; look who we have here. I knew I sensed a familiar chakra; but I never expected to find you of all people.' The nin said still grinning. 'It's been way too long hasn't it, Obito.'

'What do you want Kisame?' Obito was surprised that his voice was firm and not shaky; he was sure his words would get stuck in his throat. The firmness in his voice made him feel much more confident.

'Oh nothing at all, I was just on my way back from the hidden mist and your chakra caught my attention.' He dropped his blade off his shoulder and rested it in front of his body.

'Well now that we're done with pleasantries we'll be on our way. It was nice to meet you.' Kakashi said.

'I know you; you're Kakashi of the sharingan eye. You made quite a name for yourself in the Third Shinobi World War.'

'And you're Kisame Hoshigaki one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist.'

'Since I don't like beating around the bush I'll get right to the point; give me the Uchiha brat and I shall let the rest of you walk away from here unharmed.'

Obito tensed up; while Kakashi and Rin immediately got into a fighting stance each holding a kunai.

'You must be pretty delusional to think that we would forsake our teammate and best friend just for the sake of our survival. We would never abandon Obito even if our lives depended on it.' Rin shouted.

'How touching.' Kisame laughed, 'Very well then, you leave me no choice.'

He immediately started weaving signs. 'Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu.'

Suddenly a ball of water was formed which transformed into a massive shark and headed straight for the group.

'Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu.' Obito brought his palm up to his mouth in the form of a circle and blew on it creating a massive ball of fire.

The two attacks hit each other and cancelled each other out.

'Very good brat; you have definitely improved. I can sense that your chakra is much more powerful now.'

'You shall not touch my friends. I won't let you.' Obito yelled as he charged towards Kisame.

'No Obito wait.' Kakashi called after him but all of the black haired shinobis focus was on Kisame. 'Damnit, Rin stay here and protect Mr Zaku I'll back Obito up.'

Rin jumped back and stood in a defensive position in front of Mr Zaku while Kakashi charged after Obito.

Lifting up his hitai-ate Obito started weaving hand signs. 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.'

Kisame immediately countered with his Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu. This time he infused more chakra into the attack.

The shark easily got through the mini fireballs and went straight for Obito.

Seeing the approaching danger he immediately jumped upward in an attempt to get out of the sharks path; but even with the sharingan he knew he had seen it too late and he knew the attack would hit him.

'Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.'

Suddenly a massive wall of earth rose from the ground in front of Obito and blocked the oncoming attack.

Landing on the ground Obito looked back to see Kakashi crouching with his palms pressed into the ground in front of him.

'I told you not to rush in; what did you hope to achieve.' Kakashi said shaking his head.

'Okay, don't lecture me now; we have an enemy to take down first.'

As soon as the wall was lowered the two leaf shinobi charged at their target.

'Chidori.' Kakashi said as he took the lead. Running straight at Kisame he extended his hand only to be met by Kisame's sword.

He was surprised by the fact that the blade didn't shatter on being hit by his lightning cutter. He immediately infused more chakra into his hand in an attempt to break the blade.

'Don't hit the blade with ninjutsu Kakashi; it absorbs chakra.' Obito shouted from behind but it was too late. Kisame over powered the leaf nin and hit him with his blade causing Kakashi to fly back with a cut along his arm.

He immediately focused his attention on Obito and deflected his kunai before kicking him square in the jaw. The impact caused Obito to fall flat on the ground.

Before anyone realized what happened Kisame was behind Kakashi. 'Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu.'

There was immediately a ball of water that was formed around Kakashi trapping him within its confines.

By the time the group realized what had happened it was too late. Kisame had created a water clone when the group was distracted by the second shark bomb and used the clone to trap Kakashi.

Rin was about to run to help Kakashi but she was stopped by Obitos voice.

'Rin don't; if you go to help Kakashi you'll leave Mr Zaku vulnerable to attack. Our first priority is to ensure his safety. I'll figure something out.'

He turned back to face Kisame. 'Kakashi conserve your oxygen, I can't promise a quick victory against him; he is a tough opponent and this may take some time but I will rescue you if it's the last thing I do.'

* * *

 **So, I hope you guys liked that chapter. I know the ending is a bit abrupt but if I didn't stop there I never would have.**

 **Also guys please don't forget, I really would like to hear your suggestions for the story cause I'm genuinely stuck. So I'm counting on you. :)**

 **(If you don't know what I'm talking about go and read Authors Notes number 4, it's a matter of life and death.)**

 **Finally, review what you think and favorite and follow the story. Thank you.**

 **Until next time. Have a great day.**


	6. Chapter 6

**So with this chapter we're done with Phase 1. Just like last time I'm going to say this again. I really would appreciate it if you took 2 minutes out to give me suggestions for the next phase I really would like to hear them. And I want to thank those of you that did send them in. I really like some of them, but I already told you that :)**

 **I don't think I will be able to post anything till atleast after Christmas, the reason being I'm travelling back home in 3 days and am making quite a few stopovers to meet friends. WOOHOO. Haha. Anyways I hope all of you have a wonderful holiday season.**

 **Also I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited and followed the story. It feels good to know that there are people out there who enjoy reading the story.**

 **P.s. If any of you know some good shikatema stories I'd like to read them.**

 **Read and Review guys. Thanks.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6: The Mission - Part 3.**

Lifting up his hitai-ate Obito started weaving hand signs. 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu.'

Kisame immediately countered with his Water Style: Water Shark Bomb Jutsu. This time he infused more chakra into the attack.

The shark easily got through the mini fireballs and went straight for Obito.

Seeing the approaching danger he immediately jumped upward in an attempt to get out of the sharks path; but even with the sharingan he knew he had seen it too late and he knew the attack would hit him.

'Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.'

Suddenly a massive wall of earth rose from the ground in front of Obito and blocked the oncoming attack.

Landing on the ground Obito looked back to see Kakashi crouching with his palms pressed into the ground in front of him.

'I told you not to rush in; what did you hope to achieve.' Kakashi said as he got up shaking his head.

'Okay, don't lecture me now; we have an enemy to take down first.'

'Alright then; we'll attack him together. I'll take the lead and you be my back up.'

'Well then what are we waiting for?'

As soon as the wall was lowered the two leaf shinobi charged at their target.

'Chidori.' Kakashi said as he took the lead. His right hand was completely surrounded by the lightning shaped chakra.

Obito who was running a few steps behind Kakashi pulled out two kunai from his weapons holster.

Running straight at Kisame, Kakashi outstretched his right arm aiming the attack towards his heart.

Just before his hand could make contact with Kisame, The mist nin brought down his sword to meet the oncoming attack.

Kakashi was surprised by the fact that the blade didn't shatter on being hit by his lightning cutter. He immediately infused more of his chakra into his hand in an attempt to break the blade.

'Don't hit the blade with ninjutsu Kakashi; it absorbs chakra.' Obito shouted from behind but it was too late.

Kisame over powered the leaf nin; pushing him back using his sword making Kakashi lose his footing. He used the advantage by hitting him across his side with his blade causing Kakashi to fly back with a cut along his arm.

Meanwhile Obito tossed the two kunai in the direction of Kisame before grabbing two more from his weapons holster.

Kisame immediately focused his attention on Obito and parried the kunai thrown at him.

Sure that the diversion had thrown Kisame off focus; Obito decided to cash in on the advantage and proceeded to stab Kisame with the kunai in his hands. But before Obito had time to react Kisame kicked him square in the jaw. The impact from the kick caused Obito to fall flat on the ground.

Meanwhile unaware to anyone else Kisame had created a water clone. The water clone was lurking in the foliage surrounding the battlefield.

Knowing where his clone was hiding; Kisame hit Kakashi in such a way that he would land just a few feet from the water clone.

Before anyone realized what happened Kisame emerged from the forest and was behind Kakashi.

'Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu.'

Before Kakashi could react to the clone there was a ball of water that was formed around Kakashi trapping him within its confines.

By the time the group realized what had happened it was too late. Kisame had created a water clone when the group was distracted by the second shark bomb and used the clone to trap Kakashi.

Seeing Kakashi in trouble Rin completely forgot about Mr Zaku whom she had to protect and was about to run towards Kakashi to help him.

'Rin.'

She had barely taken two steps before she was stopped in her tracks by the sound of Obitos voice. She turned her head towards the black haired ninja who was getting back to his feet while looking in her direction.

'Rin don't; if you go to help Kakashi you'll leave Mr Zaku vulnerable to attack. Don't forget our first priority is to ensure his safety or else this whole mission will be a failure. You leave rescuing Kakashi to me, I'll figure something out.'

Rin; though at first slightly hesitant quickly complied and jumped back in a defensive stance in front of Mr Zaku.

After he was satisfied that Rin wouldn't do anything foolish; Obito turned back to face Kisame before addressing his friend.

'Kakashi conserve your oxygen; I know how this jutsu works and trying to break free from the inside is near impossible. I can't promise a quick victory against him; he is a tough opponent and this may take some time but I will rescue you if it's the last thing I do.'

 **. .**

 _Obito was standing in the middle of the field panting; his back was hunched over while his hands rested on his knees supporting his weight. He had just finished a gruelling training session._

 _Despite being held captive by Orochimaru; the sannin made sure that Obito trained and improved._

 _His sparring partner for the past month was a kunoichi from the village hidden in the rain named Reiko. Reiko was as old as Obito. She had short brown hair reaching just below her shoulders and her eyes were hazel brown. She wore black tights coming just above her knee and a dark blue qipao dress that reached her upper thighs._

 _Obito liked Reiko; she was the only person in the hideout who was nice to him. Like him she was also picked up by Orochimaru because of her unique kekkei genkai. She was the last surviving member of her clan. They were a powerful group, a respected clan in the hidden rain village known far and wide for their ability to summon storms at will and manipulate the storm clouds to their advantage on the battlefield._

 _Though being one of the most powerful clans the hidden rain village had to offer the clans weakness lay in the fact that the number of members that possessed the kekkei genkai were just a handful. According to Reiko there were just over half a dozen member that could manipulate the weather before the third shinobi war broke out. And the fact that the hidden rain village stood in between three of the big hidden villages, the clan like the rest of the hidden rain village got caught up in the crossfire and her clan perished leaving her to be sole wielder of her blood line trait._

 _Reiko could manipulate both water and lightning chakra natures and therefore was an ideal choice to help Obito train and overcome his disadvantage being a wielder of the fire chakra nature._

 _Moreover they both enjoyed eachothers company and even considered eachother to be a friend dare they say so. They both could relate to the others problems since they both became Orochimarus lab rats under similar circumstances and around the same time._

 _Still panting from the training he just endured Obito raised his head to look at Reiko. When she returned his gaze he felt the corners of his lips curve upwards in a grin, and she immediately returned the smile back at him after which he fell backwards to lie on the ground._

 _Seeing the black haired boy sprawled out on the ground; his eyes closed and his chest rising and falling with his heavy breaths she accepted that he was done for the day and started to make her way towards where he was laying._

 _Closing the short distance between them in a few steps she sat down beside Obito._

 _On hearing the kunoichi take a seat next to him Obito opened his eyes and turned his head towards Reiko to acknowledge her presence._

 _Noticing Obito turn his head to look at her, Reiko broke the silence._

' _That was a good training session today.'_

' _Mhm.' The black haired shinobi responded as he turned his head to look at the sky._

' _You've improved a lot since we started training together a month ago. I'm sure you'll have that new jutsu down in no time.'_

' _It still won't be good enough.'_

 _When Reiko turned to look at Obito he had a melancholic look on his face. Felling upset that she may have been the cause for his unhappiness she decided to confront him about it._

' _Obito, what is the matter?'_

 _Realizing he had been thinking out loud the last time he decided to avoid the topic. 'Huh? Oh it's nothing. Don't worry about it.' He said with a forced smile._

 _Accepting his privacy Reiko leaned back supporting her weight on her hands behind her. She knew Obito would tell her what the matter was when he was comfortable._

 _They sat there in silence for another few minutes before she heard Obito sigh rather loudly._

 _She turned her head towards him. He was sitting up now; his hands beside him pulling at the grass under his palms._

' _If I ask you for a favor do you think you'll be able to do it?'_

' _Huh? What do you need?'_

' _First answer me; will you be able to do it?'_

 _Reiko thought about it for a bit before answering Obito. 'I can't promise anything but I guess I could try.'_

 _Obito didn't reply for a few moments._

' _I need you to teach me how to effectively counter the water prison jutsu. I know you know how to do it and since you can perform the jutsu you must also know its weakness.'_

' _Is this because of Kisames tortures? You know there's nothing you can do right. It's stupid to try and take him on. You've been here for over a year now you know as well as I do that the best thing to do is just let him get his work over with.'_

 _There was a momentary silence yet again before Obito responded. 'I know it is foolish to take on Kisame during one of his torture sessions, I just need to know that in case there is ever the unlikely chance that my only way of escape and survival is through breaking out of the water prison jutsu; I need to know that I will be able to rise to the occasion.' He paused for a second before continuing, 'Yeah, I may not make any sense to you but I need to learn how to overpower that jutsu.'_

' _You know it's near impossible to overpower the water prison from the inside. Once you're trapped in it the only way to escape is to hope the wielder runs out of chakra gets distracted or gets hit to break the jutsu. The one major disadvantage is that the wielder becomes almost immobile as he has to constantly be in contact with the water prison. So if you're fighting one on one make sure you have a clone ready to attack in case you are caught in the jutsu. Of course it's much better if the clone gets caught as it will give you an even bigger advantage.'_

 _Obito was sitting with his ears perked up listening attentively to Reiko._

' _There's no point talking about all this.' Reiko said as she rose to her feet. 'It is easier if you have actual experience in facing it.'_

' _But I don't have nearly enough chakra required to make a clone and fight at the same time. My chakra reserves isn't what it used to be, besides we just had that battle.' Obito said disappointed._

 _Reiko just smiled and chuckled at him. 'I know; that's why I will make clones that will be in the prison, you just try and save them from it, okay?'_

 _Having said that Reiko immediately made two water clones and trapped one of her clones in her water prison jutsu._

' _Alright so the aim is to get past me and get my clone to break their hold on the water prison. Do whatever you think necessary to free the clone. Come at me when you're ready.'_

 _ **. .**_

Obito surveyed the surrounding trying to figure out a way to get the clone to break his hold on the water prison around Kakashi.

He suddenly saw Kisame charging at him his sword behind him ready to be swung. Obito quickly jumped out of the way using the sword as a foothold to get some distance between him and Kisame.

'You said some pretty big words before. I'll make this simple for you and your friends Obito; just come back with me and I'll let your friends live. I won't even lay a scratch on them.' Kisame said with a wide grin.

'Don't listen to him Obito; forget about me and get out of here. Protect Rin and Mr Zaku.' The silver haired nin said.

'Aren't you a brave one.' Kisames clone said as he turned to look at Kakashi. 'I will get Obito whether you like it or not. The only question is whether you and your girlfriend over there survive or not.'

Suddenly an idea popped into Obitos head. _That may work, but I have only shot at getting it right. My chakra is nearly depleted so I have enough just for that one jutsu, but if it hits it is all I'll need. Atleast Kakashi and Rin will survive._ Obito chuckled lightly. _Isn't this familiar. Feels like the battle at Kannabi Bridge all over again._

'WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT?' Kisame yelled as he charged at Obito.

Quickly pulling out a few kunai from his holster Obito tossed them at Kisame aiming for the left side of his body.

Dodging out of the way Kisame stopped to look at Obito.

Pulling out more kunai he quickly threw them at Kisame carefully aiming for the left side of his body. Once again Kisame dodged them jumping to the right side.

Obito did the same process two more times; tossing kunai and shuriken at Kisames left. And yet again Kisame avoided all of them.

'I'm not sure if you have horrid aim or you're trying to buy time. Either way this ends now.'

'You're right. It does end now.' Obito deadpanned.

Kisame started forming hand signs, as soon as he was done he slammed his palms into a water puddle in front of him sending a large surge of water into the air. 'Water Style: Four Shark Shower.'

The water in mid air transformed into four miniature sharks and flew towards Obito.

Obito quickly formed his own hand signs taking in a large amount of air; he infused his chakra into the air before he blew it out. 'Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu.'

Suddenly a large dragon of fire formed from the air expelled by Obito quickly going and taking out the sharks and headed straight for Kisame.

The water from the jutsu was now in the form of tiny droplets falling to the ground.

Everyone stood in shock, not having seen this particular jutsu before. Kisame quickly jumped out of the path of the oncoming fire dragon.

 _That is some jutsu to be able to take out my sharks with such ease. But that's the speciality of my four shark shower; it doesn't matter if you nullify it. It's still going to hit you and hit you bad._ Kisame grinned still in the air.

'That was a valiant effort, but it's over now. The best part about this jutsu is that once my sharks are attacked, the water from the jutsu simply reforms into countless droplet sized sharks, which rain down on the target and inflict heavy damage. You can't hope to dodge all of these.'

Obito though trying his best to get out of the way was hit by numerous sharks cutting him all over.

He collapsed to the ground already exhausted from draining his chakra and the gashes on his body from the sharks.

He felt his mind go into darkness as he started to lose consciousness.

The last thing that popped into his mind was Rin and Kakashi.

 _I will probably not make it out of this battle, but atleast I managed to rescue Kakashi. Hopefully they will be able to escape now._ He felt a slight smile come on his lips.

 _Guess this was just like the battle at Kannabi Bridge._

* * *

 **So I hope you liked that chapter, all your questions will be answered next chapter.**

 **Remember to send in suggestions.**

 **R &R. **

**Have a good one. Cheers!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late update guys, there was a lot happening in the past two weeks that left me too overwhelmed to write. Moreover my laptop stopped working so I couldn't write. I got a new laptop but that didn't let me sign in to my email so I was unable to download office and hence couldn't write again.**

 **Well long story short, I have my old laptop fixed and here is the new chapter.**

 **For those of you that don't know, i had written a shikatema fic before i left. The Perfect Girlfriend. do check it out and let me know what you guys think.**

 **In an older a/n i had said that i'd try and update every 3-4 days, but it really is not easy to do so. hence I will try and update every 7-10 days. Cause not only is it hard to write a new chapter every 4 days i honestly cbf to write one as i'm at a part in the story that is kind of lacklustre to write, don't worry the story will be nice to read it's just that i want to write the ending chapters so bad as i love the idea i have for it.**

 **I'd like to thank all of you that gave me some amazing ideas for the 2nd phase, much appreciated. i'll try and incorporate as much of it as i can.**

 **This chapter goes out to a guest reviewer Narutokun95. I can't find your profile so i'm assuming you're a guest. This person is such an amazing and supportive reader, constantly reviewing my stories. Thank you so much, and i hope the delay didn't kill you :P**

 **To Mint- i hope your questions are answered in this chapter.**

 **Once again, thank you everyone that support my stories. It feels so good to know that there are people out there who enjoy your stories.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7: What You Mean To Me.**

'Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu.'

Suddenly a large dragon of fire formed from the air expelled by Obito. Quickly going and taking out the sharks; the dragon headed straight for Kisame.

The water used in Kisames jutsu was now in the form of tiny droplets falling to the ground.

Everyone stood in shock, not having seen this particular justu before. Kisame quickly jumped upward to get out of the path of the oncoming fire dragon.

 _That is some jutsu to be able to take out my sharks with such ease. But that's the speciality of my four shark shower; it doesn't matter if you nullify it. It's still going to hit you._ Kisame grinned still in the air.

Behind him he heard a loud hissing sound and the splash of water.

Suddenly his grin turned into a scowl as he realized what happened.

Turning his head back Kisame saw as the fire dragon hit his water clone leaving behind a puddle of water in its wake.

The target of Obitos attack was never the real Kisame, he had meant for the fire dragon to hit the clone all along.

Obito had purposely aimed for the left side of Kisame when attacking him.

He was getting Kisame to move according to his will in order to get him along the same path as the water clone. Once he was in position he used his jutsu making it look like he wanted to hit Kisame but in reality he intended for the clone to get destroyed or atleast break the water prison so that Kakashi would be free.

Next to the puddle, down on one knee was the silver haired nin.

Looking up Kakashi saw as a shower of sharks fell on his best friend slicing him up.

Kakashi saw as his best friend fell backwards to the ground.

Kakashi saw as blood started to seep from his best friends wounds while he was on the ground unable to do anything to help Obito.

He mentally cursed himself at once again being unable to save his best friend.

 **. .**

The first thing that he saw when he opened his eyes was a bright white light. He squinted his eyes so as to allow his pupils to constrict and adjust to the bright surrounding. He started to feel the exhaustion take over his body and he let out a low groan.

As soon as the sound escaped his lips he faintly heard a voice call out his name.

'Obito.'

The voice was feminine and sounded rather familiar. He grimaced as his vision improved so as to reveal a person entering his view.

Obito immediately felt a weight on his chest as someone clutched onto him whimpering lightly.

He winced from the pain the contact caused him causing the person hugging him to instinctively let go and pull their weight off of him.

As his vision slowly began to focus he noticed a female hovering over him. She had short brown hair reaching till her shoulders, she also had a purple stripe tattoo adorning both her cheeks.

She had tears welled in her eyes and the boy could see that a few had already left trails on her face.

Obito lifted his right hand to her face in order to wipe her tears away; he immediately felt a sharp pain surge through his arm causing him to close his eyes and lower his arm.

He felt his hands being grasped by a pair of soft hands. Opening his eyes he saw as Rin laced her fingers through his while her other hand gently stroked the back of his palm.

Looking at her face he saw that she was still crying inaudibly.

'Why are you crying Rin?' Obito asked, his voice was raspy.

'Do you have any idea how scared I was?' Rin said. 'I, We thought you were going to die. Kakashi and I have been sitting in this room for three days now and you ask me why I am crying.'

 _Three days, I've been out for three full days._

Taking a moment to look around the white room Obito saw a lean silver haired man leaning against the far wall near the window.

'Do you know what you mean to me Obito? I love you you idiot. You and Kakashi are my boys, my precious people. I don't know what I would do if I lost either of you. And here I was waiting for three days in this hospital room hoping and praying that you open your eyes. We were unsure if you were going to even make it. You were bruised up so badly in that fight; moreover you lost so much blood from Kisame's attack. And who told you to do that stupid ass fire dragon of yours. You had completely exhausted your chakra you know, it was a miracle you weren't already dead before I started using medical ninjutsu on you. Do you know what it's like sitting around helpless; unsure if your best friend is going to live or die. Can you even grasp what it must feel like for me, having to deal with the fact that you may lose someone so close to you all over again.'

'I THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD AND THAT I HAD LOST YOU; THAT'S WHY I'M CRYING YOU IDIOT.'

By now Rin had completely broken down and was sobbing uncontrollably.

In an instant Kakashi was by her side, consoling her as she sobbed into his chest. While gently stroking her head, Kakashi looked towards Obito and smiled at him crinkling his visible eye.

In that one silent gesture all words were exchanged between the two of them, and Obito understood that his best friend was happy to see that he was fine.

Closing his eyes Obito sunk into the bed. He was extremely curious to know what exactly transpired on the battlefield after he passed out though he was grateful that he and his friends got out of it unscathed.

Obito knew now wasn't the time to ask his friends what happened, that could wait till Rin had calmed down. So for the moment he decided to just rest until Rin was in a better mood.

 **. .**

Looking up Kakashi saw as Obito fell to the ground. He lay there bruised and unconscious losing a lot blood.

Blood boiled through his veins as the worst scenario played itself through his mind. He couldn't deal with losing Obito all over again.

'Rin don't rush in. Wait for me to get Kisame away from Obito, once I have done that go to him and see what you can do to heal him. Keep Mr Zaku by your side at all times, don't forget he is the priority of the mission.'

Having said that Kakashi grabbed a few shuriken and tossed it towards Kisame.

Having heard their conversation and not in the mood to be moved around like Obito had done earlier he dodged the oncoming shuriken by moving closer to Obito.

Just as Kisame had dodged the shuriken he felt the left side of his arm get cut as 2 shuriken appeared from behind causing Kisame to immediately flinch and move away from Obito.

Kakashi had anticipated Kisame moving towards Obito rather than away, and in order to give Rin some space to work her medical jutsu, Kakashi had attached wire strings to two of the shuriken that were thrown closest to where Obito lay.

As soon as Kisame had jumped towards the fallen Obito, Kakashi manipulated the shuriken by tugging on the string causing it to immediately come backwards and cut Kisame.

'You're a crafty one aren't you. You won't be in a while.'

Kisame immediately started weaving hand signs.

Kakashi pulled out his white light chakra sabre, that was handed down to him by his father, and charged headfirst at Kisame.

'Water style: Water Bullet Jutsu.'

'Chidori.' Kakashi yelled as he let his lightning chakra flow through his tanto allowing him to channel his chidori through his blade.

Kakashi easily cut through the stream of water as he made his way towards Kisame.

Dodging just in the nick of time, Kisame jumped to the branch of a nearby tree.

'That's quite an impressive technique.'

Suddenly Kisame stopped speaking and looked into the distance behind him.

Grinning he turned back to the group.

'Well looks like the fight here is over. I have a feeling I'll be seeing you again. Kakashi Hatake.'

With that he jumped off the tree and disappeared into the forest behind them.

Rin immediately got to Obitos side and started healing him with her medical jutsu. Zaku was just behind her and was by her side a moment later.

Walking up towards the three of them Kakashi saw Rin shaking uncontrollably while administering her chakra through Obito.

'What's the matter Rin?'

'His chakra is depleted, I don't know if he will survive, though his external injuries aren't severe he has lost a lot of blood. Not to forget the exhaustion he must be facing after two big battles. I can't lose him again Kakashi.'

Kakashi could see the tears rolling down her cheeks.

Suddenly they heard a rustling coming from the bushes in front of them. Everyone tensed up while Kakashi got into a fighting stance.

From the bushes a group of three men and a woman appeared. They were wearing the traditional Mist jounin gear with mist headbands.

'State your purpose.' Kakashi said.

'Don't worry. We aren't enemies, we came here after our ANBU spotted Kisame near our village. We were sent here in case he encountered your group. I hope you remember that Doctor Zaku is our guest afterall.' The woman spoke.

'Kori, go help the girl aid their fallen comrade.' She said and a tall, fat mist shinobi approached the group.

Kakashi held onto his tanto tighter as the man approached.

Sensing the groups hesitation he smiled at them. 'Sorry, we know you're on edge. I would be too if I had just been in a battle with I'm assuming it was Kisame. Right now your friend needs our help. I assure you I come in peace.'

Loosening his grip, he allowed the man to pass by and help out with Rin.

'The report on what happened over here can wait for later; let's get you guys within the mist walls so we can treat your friend. Let's go.' Kori said.

With that Kori scooped up Obito in his arms as the group made its way towards the hidden mist village.

 **. .**

Leaning against the headboard Obito sighed. He was grateful for the mist shinobi arriving on time. If it wasn't for them Kisame may never have retreated and he may have been dead along with his friends.

Kakashi was standing at the foot of the bed while Rin sat in the chair beside the bed as her fingers drew circles on the back of Obitos palm.

'Well I guess I ought to thank the guys who helped us.' Obito said.

'Probably do.' Kakashi said which caused Rin to chuckle.

'Mr Zaku is doing well if you were wondering. He even made you some ointments like he promised; they helped greatly with your wounds.' Rin said.

'That's good to know. Honestly speaking, I would just like to go home now.' Obito said which made the group laugh.

'They said we can travel back a day after you wake up, so rest up we have a long journey back tomorrow.' Kakashi said.

 **. .**

The journey back to Konoha was rather uneventful which pleased the group. They had had enough fights and run-ins with rogue ninja for one mission. They were more than happy to get back home with minimal loss of time.

By the time they got into the village it was nightfall, the streets were relatively empty as merchants got ready to head home for the day.

Turning to face the group Kakashi spoke.

'I, uh, I gotta go somewhere. See you guys later. Get some rest Obito, okay.'

And with that Kakashi turned around and left the two of them standing in the middle of the street.

After Kakashi had disappeared, Rin walked in front of Obito.

Taking his hand in hers she cupped his face.

'Don't ever scare me like that again. I can't lose you. Do you know what you mean to me.'

With that Rin stood on her toes and lightly placed a chaste kiss on his lips.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, Review, Favorite & Follow maybe? **

**Thanks :)**

 **p.s i published this quickly so there may be a few errors, i shall come back and proofread it later. I just wanted to get it out for you guys for now. Let me know if you find any errors.**

 **p.p.s it has been proofread, but if you still find errors do tell me. Cheers!**


	8. Chapter 8

**So here is chapter 8.**

 **I had quite a bit of fun writing this, hopefully you enjoy reading it :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Dancing In The Shadows.**

The streets of Konoha were nearly deserted at this time of the night. The only people out at this time were vendors heading home for the day and drunk folk coming back from the bars an clubs.

He walked through the streets at a steady pace, not too slow but not too fast either. He didn't want any onlooker to think that he was eager to be somewhere, he wasn't eager, he just needed to meet someone. He thought to himself as he made his way towards his destination.

The mission had been rather gruelling, and he needed to blow off some much needed steam at this point of time.

Walking through the twists and turns in the road he finally entered the residential area of the village.

Now that he was nearing his destination he quickened his pace. Okay maybe he was a tad eager.

The streets were empty and the lamps by the road flickered occasionally, which caused the shadows to dance and play around. He suddenly felt a strong gust of wind push at his back.

He immediately stopped dead in his tracks and surveyed his surroundings. The street was empty and nothing seemed amiss, but for some reason he felt on edge, he felt as if he was missing something obvious.

He knew a shinobi should always trust his instincts and right now his instincts were telling him to be on guard. For some reason he couldn't shake off the eerie feeling that there was someone hiding in the shadows watching his every move, but he couldn't sense any chakra signatures nearby.

Taking a final glance around in order to reassure himself he started walking again. He convinced himself that it was just the stress of the mission that was playing mind games on him, besides he could take on anything that came his way.

Within ten minutes he was standing in front of a single columned set of apartments with just two floors. Looking at the windows that aligned the first floor he spotted what he was looking for. On the far corner of the building he saw as the light from the house peered from behind the partially drawn curtains.

He was soon making his way up the stairs and through the hallway. When he reached in front of the door he disabled the traps and took the key from under the mat. Opening the door he reset the traps and slipped the key back in its resting place underneath the mat before letting himself into the house.

Taking off his sandals and leaving his mission bag resting against the wall by the door he walked into the apartment.

The apartment wasn't big but it was more than enough space for a single occupant. The first room on the right as soon as you entered the apartment was a kitchen attached to a dining area. Up ahead was the hall which was well furnished, complete with a couch that had a few throw pillows on it, a coffee table and even a recliner lounger. The hall opened up to a balcony that overlooked the street behind the apartment. To the left of the hall was the single bedroom with an attached bath.

When he entered the hall he noticed the silhouette of a woman sitting in a hanging chair in the balcony, she seemed to be reading a book and was curled up in the chair. She wore a loose tank top and a pair of shorts, her hair was tied up into a messy bun, the way she usually wore it.

She hadn't noticed her late night visitor and if she did, she didn't seem to be paying much attention to him.

She had after all gotten used to having this particular shinobi visit her whenever he had the urge to scratch an itch. She was there for him whenever he need some night time company and he would in turn be there for her whenever she needed the same. It was the way their relationship worked.

Sure they were friends, good friends actually, but being shinobi they needed an escape from all the pent up stress and frustration that came along with the job. This led to their relationship broadening from being just friends to casual fuck buddies around a year ago when the two of them had returned from a rather taxing mission. They found each other at the bar they usually frequented with friend, and one thing led to another and they soon found themselves back at his place.

There were ofcourse other ways to get rid of the stress of a shinobis life, they could have taken up drinking, or picked up some hobbies. But what better way to get off than partaking in one of the most primal needs of the human body. Atleast that's what the two of them had resorted to.

People argue that such relationships never work, there is always one person that ends up being more emotionally invested than the other in a friends with benefits relationship which eventually leads to the friendship being ruined. They begged to differ. They knew how to make it work.

They weren't a couple; they knew that, they were just two friends that shared the same means of escape, sex: hot, crazy, intense sex, treating every time like it was their last. Considering the life of a shinobi it may have very well been. It was part of the unspoken agreement that had come to be between the two of them, yes they cared for each other but they wouldn't cross the boundary that would require them to put a tag on whatever it is that they shared, that in the world of shinobi would be a grave mistake.

Relationships could always be used against you, and though the war had ended years ago there would always remain a level of animosity between the hidden villages, not to forget that the number of rogue and missing ninjas had considerably increased since then and each of them roamed around with a hidden agenda of getting revenge on a certain hidden village for taking away something dear to them, be it loved ones or friends.

They wouldn't risk putting each others life in danger by placing something as trivial as a tag on their relationship. No one knew of what they shared and they preferred to keep it that way.

'Do you plan on coming over here anytime soon or do you intend on standing over there the whole time?' She said, her eyes still fixed on the book in her hand.

Smiling to himself Kakashi made his way towards the purple haired woman sitting in the balcony.

Leaning back against the railing he propped his elbows beside him on the railing before looking directly at Anko.

Sensing his eyes on her, she placed the book beside her before she leaned back and looked deep into the black eyes of the silver haired shinobi.

'How was your mission?'

He hesitated before replying. 'Everyone survived, barely.'

Anko knit her eyebrows together at the crude reply; it wasn't like Kakashi to speak that way. The mission must have been worse than they expected to elicit such an unrefined response from him.

Getting out of the chair she walked up to Kakashi. Pressing her body flush against his she reached her hand behind his neck and pulled him down into a soft kiss. He responded immediately pressing his lips against her.

After about a minute she pulled away and zipped open his jounin vest. Helping him out of the uniform she tossed it into the room before rubbing her fingers against his chest.

'You ought to have a shower before you do anything else.'

With that Anko tugged at his shirt before she walked back into the room.

 **. .**

The pressure of the water from the shower was rather rough, Kakashi however didn't mind, it helped ease some of the soreness that had accumulated in his muscles as a result of the mission.

He was rubbing the back of his neck when he heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, looking past the glass he saw as Anko placed a towel on the rack before closing the toilet cover and taking a seat on it.

They were no longer fazed by each others sudden appearances. These seemingly uncomfortable and private moments were replaced by unplanned conversation and casual glances.

'We ran into Obitos captors.'

Anko immediately tensed up and looked at Kakashi.

'You met Orochimaru?' Anko asked, slightly nervous at what his reply might be.

'No we ran into Kisame, rogue nin from the mist. How do you know Orochimaru was Obitos captor? He didn't tell many people about them.'

'He was my sensei remember, Obito had once told me that Orochimaru was his captor, I didn't know there was another person involved though.'

He didn't respond to that. The only sound that could be heard was that of water falling against the tiles of the shower floor.

Standing up Anko pulled her tank top over her head and slipped out of her shorts.

Kakashi saw this from the corner of his eye but paid no attention to her actions.

Walking to the shower she opened the glass door and stepped in with Kakashi before closing it behind her.

Kakashi moved behind her in order to allow her access to the shower head. Leaning her head back so as to not get her hair wet she allowed the water to glide off her body. After she was completely wet she reached behind Kakashi and grabbed the bottle of shampoo. Pouring a generous amount into her hand she placed the bottle back and proceeded to gently massage the white liquid through his hair till his silver tresses were covered in little white suds.

'Obito nearly died, he exhausted his chakra trying to save me after I got caught in a water prison. I would never have been able to forgive myself if something had happened to him. I felt so helpless, so useless; unable to help him at a time when he needed me the most.'

Anko silenced him with a finger on his lips.

'Shh… Obito is still alive Kakashi, he'll live to see another day. Don't beat yourself up over what might have been. All of you survived and the mission was a success. That's what matters.' Turning him around so that he was now standing under the shower she rubbed her fingers through his hair, washing out all the soap from it. 'You're only human, you are bound to make mistakes on missions, be thankful that this time none of you were harmed severely.'

Turning off the water, the two of them got out of the shower. Grabbing the towel off the rack Kakashi proceeded to dry Ankos body before drying himself up.

Placing the towel back he looked down at the woman standing before him, raising his right hand he gently cupped her face and rubbed his thumb across her cheek. She instinctively leaned into his touch.

He lifted his other hand and rubbed it down the length of her arm before leaning down and capturing her lips with his.

Their kiss though soft and tender at first had quickly turned into a more passionate one, tongues clashed against tongues and an occasional bite elicited a moan from the other lover.

Kakashi lowered his arms behind her and scooped up the petite kunoichi resting his hands firmly underneath her buttocks and thighs. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started to walk them out of the bathroom and towards her bed, making sure not to break their kiss while doing so.

When he reached the bed Kakashi sat down with Anko on top of him, her legs still wrapped around him. They kissed for another minute before Anko broke the kiss and got off Kakashis lap.

Walking to the window in her bedroom, she proceeded to completely close the partially drawn curtains, looking outside for the briefest of seconds while doing so. The lamps on the street had been switched off by now and the only light falling on the street was that of the moon.

Walking back to Kakashi who had just followed her every movement from the corner of his eye she crawled on top of him and straddled his hips before pushing him down so that he lay on the bed.

She ghosted her lips past his chiselled abs, in between his pectorals, making her way up the side of his neck and along his jaw before finally meeting his lips with hers and resuming their kiss from where they had left off.

Unbeknownst to the two shinobi the shadows were playing their own little game underneath the moonlight in the branches of the tree outside the window as the kunoichi shifted in the tree, observing the two lovers.

* * *

 **So what did you think. Like where this is going?**

 **Let me know either ways.**

 **Thanks for reading. :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**HELLO, Yes I'm still very much alive and I'm sorry that you've had a month long wait.**

 **I have actually finished my break and am back to the grind of uni. Sigh. I miss my summer.**

 **So I have some bad news for you guys, since I'm back to uni I don't really have time to write regular updates (not like my updates were regular before :P) I may not be able to upload a new chapter for 3 months for all I know. Even this update was scheduled for June, but I got some motivation and finally completed it. But there's always the possibility that I find the motivation and get a chapter out before June.**

 **Don't worry though I plan to see this story through, so bear with me on this slow ride. On the bright side we're half way done with this story, I reckon I'd be able to churn out another 7-9 chapters.**

 **Also thank you all of you that reviewed, favorited and followed the story while I was away. It feels great to know that you guys enjoy it. Massive shoutout to mississippimudpiecraves and Narutokun95 for constantly reviewing.**

 **Also a major thanks to all my silent readers. I know some of you peeps shy, issokay. Just know that all writers love reading what you guys have to say; even if it is just one word. So here's to hopefully seeing more of you guys review :)**

 **For you naruhina fans out there, I tried my hand at the pairing and the result was a oneshot called First Love, be sure to check it out if you haven't already. If you have already checked it out feel free to read it once again :)**

 **Also if there are any shikatema fans that are looking for good stories to satisfy your cravings for fluff and feels be sure to check out a community I co-started with mississippimudpiecraves. 'A Windswept Cloud Casting Shadows In The Sand.'**

 **Now without further ado. I present to you Chapter 9.**

* * *

 **Chapter 9: Catching Up.**

Walking through the hallways of the dungeon, Kisame dragged his sword against the ground. To say he was annoyed would be an understatement. It was the first time that someone had managed to survive his water prison jutsu without his consent. Moreover he had been rudely interrupted by the mist bastards before he could kill said survivor.

 _Kakashi Hatake, you just rose to the top of my bingo book, ofcourse how can I forgot your aid in the matter. Obito Uchiha. I wonder how I should kill the both of you._ Kisame mused as he made his way towards the study at the other end of the dungeon.

Entering the room he spotted the pale skinned man bent over the table browsing through a bunch of scrolls.

On sensing Kisame enter he looked up and gave him a rather cynical grin. If Kisame was any other man the grin would have sent shivers down his spine, but Kisame had a grin that could rival that of his partner.

'Well hello there Kisame, it's been a while since you've stopped by. What brings you here?'

'Spare me the pleasantries Orochimaru, you know full well I don't visit your cave unless absolutely necessary.'

'He He, very well then, what news do you have? I hope it's interesting.'

'Oh it's interesting alright. I just happened to run into an old friend of ours during my last visit to the mist, and you'd be pleased to know he wasn't dead.' Kisame said, a large grin plastered on his face.

'Obito Uchiha? Why this is rather interesting.'

'He has grown much stronger. It is going to be much harder to catch him unawares. Bringing him back here is going to be a task.'

'It's a good thing then we have the perfect shinobi for infiltration. Moreover I'd rather him come back to us of his own free will.'

'I hope you're not talking about that psychopath test subject of yours.'

Suddenly a kunai whizzed from the shadows towards Kisame and was easily deflected by his sword.

Emerging from the shadows was a kunoichi with brown hair and brown eyes, she twirled a kunai in one hand while the other hand rested on the hilt of the sword attached to her waist.

'Kisame, it isn't wise for you to taunt a kunoichi much stronger than you, especially one that doesn't particularly like you.' the female said, the corner of her mouth curving upwards to form a smirk.

'Now now, play along. We're all on the same team afterall. I trust you know what your mission is, see to it I get the Uchiha back unharmed.' Orochimaru said.

'Do whatever you like with his other friends, I want you to leave Kakashi Hatake to me, I have a score to settle with him.' Kisame said with a rather large grin on his face.

 **. .**

Leaning against her door frame, Rin swayed the door with one palm. Standing in front of her was Obito, his palms resting against either side of the door frame, a mischievous grin plastered on his face.

'Why won't you let me in?'

'You know full well why, I'm tired Obito. I want nothing more than to take a nice hot bath and go to sleep.'

'That's what I was going to suggest, I love taking baths, and sleeping. What's the harm if we do it together?'

'The harm is that you won't let me rest.'

'But Rin, all I want to do is rest nothing else.'

'I'm sure you want nothing else, what could a guy possibly want from a sweet girl like me at midnight.'

'Oh I just want the pleasure of your company, my intentions are extremely pure.'

'Extremely pure my ass, any other time and I would have Obito but I'm honestly exhausted after that mission. I won't be able to catch up on some much needed rest if you stay over. Besides you need to rest too. We'll meet tomorrow, okay.'

Protruding his lower lip in a sulky pout, he dropped his hands from her door.

'Fine. I'm letting you rest just because you're tired.'

'Ha Ha, thank you Obito.' She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek.

'Goodnight Obito. Sleep well.'

'Night Rin.'

And with that he formed the required hand signs and shunshined away from her apartment leaving a puff of smoke in his place.

Closing the door behind her; Rin made her way towards the bathroom to draw herself a bath. After setting the temperature to her liking she proceeded to shed off her dirty uniform and toss it in the laundry hamper.

Standing in just her underwear she made her way to her bedroom and collapsed on the bed. Resting an arm over her eyes; Rin began to ponder over the mission that just passed.

 _What the hell was that mission?_ _Moreover why was Kakashi acting so weird in the hospital? I swear the tension in the room was near palpable._

 _The whole time we were in Obito's room he doesn't speak more than six words to me, sparring a grunt or hn when asked a question, which was strange even for him. I know Kakashi may not be the most vocal person about his emotions and feelings but we weren't sure if Obito was going to make it and all he did was stand next to that window and stare out. The least he could do was show any emotion, sadness, frustration. Almost anything would have been better than silence._

 _Then skip to the part where I finally broke down and started bawling my eyes out like a child and he was by my side in a flash holding me and comforting me, speaking soothing words into my hair as I wept in his chest. And when I finally calmed down he cupped my face and brought me at arm's length and just stared into my eyes. And then when he was so obviously coming closer to plant a kiss on my forehead you could leave it to me to go and do something stupid at such a moment. Why did you have to pull on his shirt so that his head lowered and his lips connected with yours?_

 _You're so stupid Rin, why do you do things without thinking, what if he was completely repulsed by it and won't speak to you ever again. Leave it to you to go and ruin the relationship with one of your best friends. That was probably why he ran away as soon as we got back through the gates._

 _I would have felt better if he atleast reciprocated and kissed me back. Stupid silver haired guy who looks so hot, why couldn't you have kissed me back. To top it off when we broke apart all you say is 'Obito is coming to consciousness.'_

 _REALLY, OBITO IS FUCKING COMING BACK TO CONSCIOUSNESS, that's your response when a girl wears her heart on a sleeve for you. You should be given an award for how cheesy you can be, how aren't all the girls in Konoha throwing themselves at you when you say such romantic lines._

 _Thank god Obito is the oblivious fool that he is; I don't know how else I'd have been able to explain the tears that started falling soon after._

 _I'm sorry I sent you away Obito but I really needed to get my feelings sorted out, and it wouldn't have been right if I invited you in. Not for you and neither for me._

Rin was brought out of her thoughts by the sound of water falling on the ground.

 _Great now the bath is overflowing. What a great day._

Quickly getting out of bed Rin proceeded to close the curtains in her bedroom before she went into the bathroom.

 **. .**

Walking through the streets of Konoha; Obito couldn't help but smile to himself. He'd had an interesting last two weeks to say the least. Little did he know, everything was about to change… very soon.

As he reached closer to his apartments he got the eerie feeling that he was being watched. His senses were immediately on alert as he proceeded towards the apartment complex.

Suddenly a strong gust blew through the trees causing the leaves to rustle in the wind.

Obito's hand instinctively went to the weapon holster strapped to his thigh. Gripping the kunai, he slowly drew it out and scanned the area.

He felt another gust of wind rush by him before he heard a female voice come from the trees.

'Now now Obito, don't look so tense. I don't mean any harm.'

'Show yourself and stop hiding in the shadows like a coward.' Obito retorted, tightening his grip on the kunai.

A figure immediately jumped from the trees and landed a few feet away from him. The female had medium length brown hair tied up into a high ponytail; she wore a sleeveless grass green kimono style blouse held together by a dark bluish grey obi that matched her pants. She also had a katana strapped to the left side of her waist.

On seeing the kunoichi in front of him Obito subconsciously relaxed his grip on the kunai and dropped his stance.

'Reiko, Is that you?'

'Good to see you too Obito, glad to know you haven't forgotten me.'

Realizing that he had lowered his guard, he immediately got back into a defensive stance.

'Woah, woah. Easy there Obito. You don't want to do something foolish now do you.'

'What are you doing here? I'm fairly certain you don't have permission to be in Konoha, that makes you an intruder and I have to be on guard around intruders regardless of the fact that I know who you are.'

'Someone's been taking their shinobi training seriously. You guessed right; I am trespassing, but if you cooperate we can end this right now and be on our way.'

'What are you talking about?'

'I've been sent here on a mission, to speak with you on behalf of Orochimaru.'

'And what makes you think I would want anything to do with the snake bastard.'

'I thought you might say that. Believe me Obito; I'd rather end this quickly. I have no intention of dragging innocent people into a matter that doesn't concern them. Come back with me to the lair of your own free will and no one has to get hurt.'

'If you don't leave the hidden leaf village right now you'll be the only one to get hurt. Trust me when I say this; I won't hold back just because I knew you in the past.'

'Those are big words Obito, are you sure you have what it takes to back them up? I think you're forgetting who always won our duels back at the lair.'

'That was years ago, don't make the mistake of assuming that I'm still the scrawny weakling you once knew.'

'You seem on edge. Like I said before, I haven't come here to fight you; though I would like to put to the test what Kisame said about you having become much stronger.'

Obito flinched at the mention of his captors name but quickly caught himself. Reiko noticed the momentary change in his demeanour and smirked to herself.

'Looks like you're still jumpy on hearing anything related to shark boy. Still scared of him are we?'

'What are you trying to pull here Reiko; it was great seeing you and all, but I suggest it's time you leave quietly.'

'This is getting really annoying, you're lucky Orochimaru specifically mentioned I wasn't to lay a finger on you, he wants you to come back of your own accord. So I'm going to make something very clear to you, if you make my job any harder than it's supposed to be; I'll make sure your friends suffer.'

Obito immediately tensed at the mention of his friends, something that Reiko immediately noticed.

 _You're making this too easy Obito._ Reiko thought to herself.

'Nice try but I call your bluff; I doubt you even know who my friends are.'

'I think you're forgetting we did a lot of acquainting back at the lair, if I recall correctly you mentioned a certain silver haired boy and a really pretty brunette. Kakashi and Rin right.'

Obito immediately gripped his kunai tighter. 'Don't mess around Reiko, you're crossing sensitive lines, I don't want to hurt you but I will if you threaten me or my friends.'

'I must say Kakashi is quite the hunk, you didn't tell me your friend was quite the looker. I don't think there are many guys that can compete with him in the aesthetic department. I'm actually quite jealous of the girl who is currently getting her brains fucked out by him.'

Obito cringed at Reiko's crass choice of words before they finally registered.

'What do you mean _currently_?'

Reiko grinned, her plan was working perfectly. 'Oh, I didn't tell you? I had clones follow your friends and report back to me.'

'STOP PLAYING AROUND REIKO, THIS ISN'T FUNNY.'

'Oh I've definitely struck a nerve haven't I,' Reiko chuckled, 'And I haven't even gotten to the best part. If I remember right you used to have a mad crush on that brunette friend of yours. I can finally understand why, she does look rather sexy in her purple lace underwear. I wonder if you've got with her yet.'

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

Obito immediately lunged at Reiko. She jumped to the right side and quickly shifted all her weight on her forward foot before swinging her right foot at Obito effectively hitting his hand and disarming his kunai from him.

Both of them simultaneously jumped backwards and started forming hand signs.

Obito pulled out a dozen shuriken and tossed them towards Reiko before infusing his chakra into the air and blowing it out.

'Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Shuriken Jutsu.'

The thrown shuriken were immediately covered in flames as they spun towards their target.

Reiko had her hand to her mouth, her thumb connected to her pointer finger to form a circle, she blew through the gap between her fingers.

'Ice Release: Ice Shard Technique.'

There were suddenly ice shards flying through the air.

The two jutsus clashed mid-air and the shuriken and shards fell to the ground effectively cancelling each other out.

'Ice release huh?'

'You're not the only one with new tricks up their sleeve.'

'Atleast I didn't have to get experimented on to improve my techniques.'

Reiko dropped her stance, she bore a sombre expression.

Noticing that she had lowered her guard, Obito quickly charged at her trying to get an advantage, Reiko easily sidestepped him while her hand went for his throat, she used his momentum to make him lose his balance before slamming him straight into the ground.

She quickly formed hand signs before bringing her index and middle finger to the ground.

'Ice Release: Ice Prison Technique.' she said softly.

The ground around Obito suddenly got covered in thick ice before sprouting upwards and covering Obito from his shoulders till his feet leaving his neck and head free.

'You see while Orochimaru's experiments did help me by augmenting my skills, don't forget my kekkei genkai is the ability to control storms, that means my natural chakra affinity is wind and water the base of an ice release technique. I have worked my ass off developing and honing my skills so don't give me that bullshit about my strengths being artificial, I won't let you take that away from me. My accomplishments are mine and mine alone; they are a result of years of my blood and my sweat and my hardwork.'

Looking at her Obito noticed a tear had managed to break free and rolled down her cheek.

'Why are you doing this Reiko, you're one of the strongest kunoichi I know. You don't have to be Orochimaru's subordinate or lab rat anymore. Leave him, go discover yourself. Live a better life, you deserve to be free. You could even move here, we're strong shinobi and you won't have to worr-'

'Stop patronizing me Uchiha, I know about my abilities better than anyone. You're one to talk. Don't forget the only reason you got out is because you were lucky, it was luck that your side of the dungeon got blown up in the ambush, it was luck that you managed to evade Kisame as long as you did, it was luck that your comrades caught your chakra signature and came to your rescue. How would you know what it's been like stuck in that hell hole wondering why you weren't lucky. In a way I'm glad I was still stuck back there, I can see how weak you really are, security and better living has made you complacent. Kisame must be delusional considering he says you have become stronger. In my eyes you are still the worthless, scrawny, pitiful excuse for a shinobi that berated himself for not being able to help his friends. And look where we are now, you're still stuck here helpless unable to help your friends.'

'You know something Reiko, I actually felt sorry for you, felt sorry for the fact that you were stuck there while I was free, there were times I wished I could have gone back and saved you too, now I see it was so foolish of me to feel bad for you cause all this while you were right where you belonged. You are no better than the scums we used to mock back there; actually you have become one of those scums; doing Orochimaru's dirty biddings for him. And I feel sorry for you because you're making the big mistake of underestimating my friends, they're leaf shinobi, they have the will of fire running through them and you're going to be sorry that you ever decided to go up against any of us. You can drag me to back to the lair, but I'll have you know my friends will come searching for me and save me just like they did the last time. And when they do I'll make sure I end you myself. That's a better fate than you could have hoped for. Also before I finish this tirade I just want you to convey this message to Orochimaru about me coming back willingly. I want you to tell him that he and all the rest of you can go fuck themselves.'

Before Obito could react Reiko had channelled chakra into her fist causing a hard layer of ice to form around it and sucker punched him square in the jaw causing him to black out.

She then proceeded to release the ice prison causing Obito to fall to the ground like a rag doll.

'I wish you hadn't given that long speech because now you're going to be wishing you had come back crawling to us in the first place. I'm going to make the life of you and your friends so miserable you'd be begging me to take you back and leave them alone.' Reiko let out a loud chuckle. 'Oh Obito; the fun is just about to begin.'

* * *

 **Hey you're still here. Since you've sat through another one of my chapters give yourself a pat on the back, you deserve it :P**

 **On a serious note, Thanks for reading. Much appreciated.**

 **Also we finally have some KakaRin, so all you KakaRin shippers can finally rejoice :P**

 **Do review.**

 **Till next time.**

 **Cheers!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hey guys, so it's been about 7 months. If you're still reading this story thanks a ton.** **Have been quite busy this past year. Uni, moving houses, trying to successfully adult. Hard stuff. lol.**

 **Also for those that may be even remotely interested, I actually started dancing in June. It's this latin dance called 'Bachata' and is quite honestly awesome af. It's super sexy and sensual like i can't even begin to explain how much i love it. basically imagine those great Dirty Dancing dances mixed with latin grace and amazing spanish music. If you guys want to watch a video to give you a taste, search up 'Ataca y Alemana' they're amazing bachata artists and you'll most likely fall in love with the dance :P**

 **Now about the story, like I've said before, this story will probably end in a few chapters. I have 6-7 chapter in mind, maybe it'll be slightly longer. who knows.**

 **This chapter was initially supposed to be much longer, but i got excited with the prospect of getting it out for you guys, so i decided to split it into a 2 part.**

 **So without further ado, happy reading. Hope you enjoy :)**

* * *

 **Chapter 10: The Kidnapping - Part 1.**

He sprinted through the trees as fast as he could, he knew he was approaching his destination at the edge of the Land of Fire border quickly and a rush of adrenaline surged through his body. He didn't know what to expect at the meeting point.

When he came within 100 metres from his destination he stopped running. Standing on the branch, he surveyed his surroundings for any possible traps. When he was sure he was in no immediate danger he dropped to the ground and walked to the tallest tree at the edge of the river.

He suddenly heard a distinctly female voice come from a tree a few metres away.

'I'm glad you agreed to my terms and came without creating any problems, it would have been pretty bad for your friend if you had disobeyed and done otherwise.'

'You didn't leave me with much of a choice when you left that message for me back in my apartment in Konoha.'

The girl chuckled to herself, 'That is true, I didn't really leave a very pleasing alternative.'

'Stop playing around, I'd much like to get back home with my friend now, so if you could hand her over, that'd be much appreciated.'

'Now now, where's the fun in that? I assure you your girlfriend is unharmed, and you will be too if you cooperate with me nicely. I do have to complete my agenda before a specific deadline you see, and I can't be bothered to deal with setbacks.'

 **. .**

 _ **1 day earlier…**_

Rin had woken up in a very good mood. After having a good breakfast and doing the dishes, she proceeded to collect all the clothes scattered around the house and put them for wash. She then cleant up her apartment and finally put the washed clothes out to dry.

'Phew a good start to the day, now all that's left is to finish up the mission report and deliver it to sensei. Considering who my teammates are I definitely can't leave that responsibility to them, it'll probably take a month for them to write it up.'

Brewing herself a cup of tea, Rin began to tackle the report for the escort mission. After about two hours, having satisfied herself with her work, she quickly changed into her jounin uniform and made her way towards the hokage tower.

She had almost reached the tower when she bumped into a couple exiting the dango shop and nearly lost her balance in the process.

'Someone's in a hurry today.' A deep male voice said.

Turning towards the voice she saw Kurenai and Asuma standing hand in hand.

'Hey guys, sorry was on the way to hand in a mission report.'

'Well don't let us keep you waiting then.' Kurenai said, winking at her before she and Asuma went on their way.

'… And that's about it, so here's the report I've written up for the mission.' She said as she handed the report to the fourth hokage.

Stowing it away, he looked up at the girl before clasping his hands together. 'I don't think you heard, because I doubt you'd be here if you did.'

'Heard about what?'

'On his way to work today, Shikaku found Obito lying unconscious in the middle of the street leading back to the Uchiha quarters. He took him to the hospital before coming in, that was about 5 hours ago.'

'WHAT! Why didn't you inform me or Kakashi? Don't tell me. Did you already inform Kakashi?'

'No, I didn't want to inform either of you as I didn't want to worry you, I asked Tsunade to keep me informed about his condition and she said there was nothing to worry about, it was just a case of chakra exhaustion. So I didn't feel it was necessary to trouble either of you.'

Rin was barely paying attention to the hokage, being more concerned with the thoughts on Obito running through her mind. Sensing her obvious stray mind Minato smiled to himself before dismissing Rin.

 **. .**

Kakashi was woken up by the sound of rapid knocking on his door and a voice that sounded distinctly familiar. He wasn't so much woken up by the sound from outside, but rather the shoving of the petite kunoichi lying beside him.

'Kakashi, I swear if you make me open my eyes I'll castrate you.'

Just the thought of her words made the silver haired nin jump out of bed, pull on some clothes and get the door.

As soon as the door was opened Rin held onto his wrist and dragged him behind her. 'I'll explain on the way, come fast.'

Grabbing his sandals and vest, the two of them were quickly on their way towards the hospital.

 **. .**

Hearing his room door slide open Obito slowly opened eyes to see his visitors. Kakashi crinkled his eyes on meeting his friend's line of sight whereas Rin's features were marred with a look of worry and concern. Obito tried to sit up as his friends approached only to be reprimanded by Rin.

'Stop trying to sit up and focus on resting.' She said as she sat down on the stool besides his bed. Kakashi stood by the far wall near the window the way he usually did in hospital rooms.

Taking an apple from the bag of fruits she had brought for Obito, she started cutting it into thin slices while feeding him while reprimanding him for not taking better care of himself. After about 15 minutes of silence Kakashi finally broke it in an aggravated tone.

'What exactly happened after I left you guys last night?'

'What do you mean I walked Rin home an…'

'Don't play stupid Uchiha, I mean who were you attacked by and for what reason.'

Obito slightly tensed up at the accusation, before Rin interjected.

'What are you saying Kakashi, I told you right. Minato sensei said Obito was found unconscious on the street from chakra exhaustion.' Turning her head to face Obito, she continued 'If you were that drained you could have asked to stay over y'know.'

'I did, you turned me away.' He quickly replied smirking at her that made Rin blush on realising what he was referring to. Realising who was in the room she immediately looked at Kakashi's reaction through the corner of her eye.

Clearly unperturbed by Obito's remarks, Kakashi continued.

'Don't tell me you haven't noticed Rin. Sure sensei said it's chakra exhaustion. Probably what the hospital has noted down on its records too, but you're a medic nin. Have you not noticed his chakra levels are perfectly normal? Moreover I see enough evidence to come to a different conclusion, a more fitting conclusion for Obito being found unconscious on the street.'

Obito maintained his confused expression while Rin clearly had no clue about what was going on.

'I don't understand what you're saying. I guess the mission took a greater toll on my body than I had imagined.'

'Oh shut up Obito. What are you trying to hide. Tell me, tell us, did Kisame follow us back to the village, or was it one of our own shinobi. We'll handle it, we're a team.'

'I don't know what you're trying to say Kakashi.'

Slamming a fist against the wall, Kakashi yelled 'Dammit Obito, what are you trying to hide. Your jaw is purple for fucks sake, looks like you were socked in the jaw by Tsunade. Moreover there are quite a few small cuts adorning your arms, I know they weren't there when we arrived yesterday; they look quite fresh in fact. So stop taking us for fools and spill it already. Who attacked you?'

'It's none of your business, it's just chakra exhaustion. I think I need to rest, so can you guys leave. I'll see you tomorrow or whenever.'

Without another word Kakashi was out of the room, while Obito turned his head away from Rin. Biting her lip, Rin looked at Obito and then behind at the door. Gently placing her hand against his cheek she stroked it with her thumb before getting up.

'Get some rest, I'll make some soup for you tomorrow. The doctor did say you can be discharged tomorrow morning, so we'll have lunch together at my place. Just lunch.' And with that Rin left the room to go after Kakashi.

Rin found Kakashi leaning against a wall outside the hospital.

'Hey.' She said as she approached him.

Pushing himself off the wall, the silver haired nin walked in step with Rin as they made their way back towards their apartments. The sun was starting to set and the streets started to get more crowded as vendors got ready for the dinner rush.

'You really think Obito was attacked last night? Why would sensei hide that from us. Also shouldn't it be of security concern if an enemy nin managed to slip past our guards an attack a Konoha shinobi.'

'I think it was for that very reason that sensei didn't tell us the truth. He most likely didn't want us to worry too much about Obito, considering his past and everything.'

They continued to walk in silence until Rin's stomach decided it was time to demonstrate the mating call of a whale.

Blushing from embarrassment she tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear before smiling at Kakashi. 'Guess that's a signal for us to grab some food.'

 **. .**

After dinner Kakashi walked Rin back to her door before heading back to his apartment. He stopped just outside his door on noticing the door was left open and slightly ajar.

 _That's weird, Anko never uses the door. And even if she did she would never be so careless so as to leave it unlocked let alone open._

Pulling a kunai from his holster, Kakashi slowly made his way into his apartment paying attention for even the faintest traces of any chakra signature. Turning on the light he quickly surveyed the apartment.

 _Everything seems to be in its place, this is very weird. Maybe Anko just forget. Or maybe Asuma had to take a breather from Kurenai and forgot to lock up when he left, he does visit often after all._

Still Kakashi couldn't shake off his intuition about something being off. His fears were confirmed when he went to get a drink of water and from the corner of his eye saw the note jammed between the windows of the kitchen.

Pulling it out carefully to make sure it wasn't a trap he slowly opened it and read.

 _Hello Pretty Boy,_

 _If you're reading this you most likely found the note. Just wanted to inform you that I have taken your incredibly sexy girlfriend hostage, well more like collateral. So unless you want to receive a package of her heart I suggest you meet me by the tallest tree at the edge of the Land of Fire border on the way to the Mist before the end of tomorrow._

 _Much love,_

 _Reiko_

 _P.s. it goes without saying, you have to come alone and don't you dare inform anyone where you're going; I'll know if you do. _

As soon as he read the last sentence, he dropped the note and rushed to his cupboard to grab all the necessary ninja supplies before rushing out of his apartment.

 _ **To be continued…**_

* * *

 **Sorry for the scene jumps in this chapter i didn't want to bore you with mundane filler like conversations. Also i really want to get to the last few chapters. Hope you enjoyed the chapter nevertheless.**

 **The next chapter may either come out this week or next month. depends on my mood.**

 **Also, I'd love to know if any of you guys dance bachata or salsa, or dance anything in general. Let me know in a review maybe.**

 **Till next time, Take care. :)**


	11. Chapter 11

**So here's chapter 11, though i really should be studying for my finals which are dayafter I felt the incessant need to write. Enjoy**

* * *

 **Chapter 11: The Kidnapping - Part 2.**

 **Rin**

Waking up she glanced at the clock beside her bed.

 _Its already 12, shit we've to go pick up Obito he gets discharged at 1. Where's that lazy guy though, he said he'll pick me up from my place at 11:30. Probably still sleeping or reading one of his "books"._

Getting out of bed she quickly showered and changed into a fresh pair of clothes before grabbing an apple and heading out the door.

 _Kakashi better have a damn good excuse for not picking me up yet, it's almost 12:30 and we told Obito we'd be there by now. So carefree, he really annoys me sometimes._

Walking up the steps of his apartment complex Rin kept grumbling to herself about Kakashi's behaviour till she turned the corner into his hallway and suddenly stopped in her tracks on seeing his door left slightly ajar.

 _What happened here why is his door open. He couldn't have forgotten to close it when he left; I've known him all my life and know for a fact that he would never behave this carelessly so as to leave his door not just unlocked but open. Was it a robbery, he would have easily been able to handle robbers but what if they were ninjas and caught him unawares. I can't sense any chakra signatures but no harm in being careful._

Carefully pulling out the kunai she kept on her person for emergencies she made her way towards his apartment. Slipping into the apartment she carefully surveyed the surroundings and the rooms for any danger.

 _Everything seems to be the way it usually is, no signs of struggle or cleaning up anywhere or anything being out of place. Could he have just left the house and forgotten to close the door? No no, it isn't like Kakashi at all; he would never be that negligent._ She continued to muse as she looked around the apartment for any clues so as to figure out the reason behind Kakashi's absence. Walking into his room again she made her way to the table besides his bed when she heard the faint crinkling of paper. Lifting her foot she saw a small piece of paper that appeared to have the faint lines of being folded. Picking it up; she sat on the bed and began to read the note.

As soon as she read the last line she dropped the piece of paper in disbelief as tears started to well up in her eyes.

 _What is going on over here? Why is Reiko in contact with Kakashi; isn't she the girl that Obito mentioned about. The one he knew from back when he was held captive. Who does she think she is? And when did Kakashi start dating someone? What does she mean "I've got your incredibly sexy girlfriend", who in the world is Kakashi's girlfriend? How long has this been going on?_

'WHAT IS HAPPENING!' She yelled out loud as her tears continued to fall, bringing up her hands she swiped them across her face in an attempt to stop crying. 'Why didn't you tell me Kakashi? WHY? Am I not important enough to know the things that happen in your life? She clearly means something to you for you to run after her and sneak out of the village at the drop of a hat. Who am I kidding, pining over him when he clearly had his heart elsewhere the whole time. Why is this happening' she sobbed.

Getting up off the bed she quickly ran out of the apartment making sure to close the door before she made her way back home.

 **. .**

 **Obito**

After completing his discharge procedures he made his way to the main lobby and took a seat in the waiting area.

 _These guys still haven't come it's almost 2. Probably Kakashi's fault, he must have been asleep all day._

He waited for another half an hour before giving up and leaving by himself.

 _Kakashi still isn't upset about yesterday I hope, why can't he understand there are reasons I can't tell them what actually happened. They'll not only worry it might just put them in harm's way. I better get something to eat before I drop by Rin's place though; I'm famished._

After having a quick meal at Ichiraku's he made his way to Rin's house. Disabling the locks he let himself in and immediately heard the faint sound of sniffles followed by the shuffling of feet before he saw Rin's head pop out from her door.

'Oh, hi Obito, sorry we didn't come to pick you up.'

'What's wrong?'

'Huh? Nothing's wrong why'd you ask?'

'You were crying.'

'No I wasn't. How are you feeling?'

'Don't change the subject Rin.' He said as he made his way towards her. 'I can see the tear trails on your cheek.'

Quickly swiping the back of her hand against her cheek she made her way to the kitchen to grab a glass of water.

Walking behind her he embraced her from behind, 'Tell me why you're crying Rin.'

Moving out of his hug she turned to face him. 'I'm sorry I want some personal space at the moment. Let's meet later.'

'What's got you so worked up.' He asked now concerned.

'Can you stop asking me that, I need time to think and figure things out okay, I have my own personal needs too.' She snapped.

'Okay? Don't need to yell at me. I'll just go to Kakashi's then.'

'You won't find him; I don't think he is in the village.' She said as another tear slipped out and rolled down her face.

'What's going on Rin?' He said as he wiped the tear from her cheek.

'Can you fucking stop touching me Obito; I don't know what's going on. I'm fucking confused there's too much going through my mind right now.'

'Well tell me, maybe I can help.'

'You really want to help, you probably should when you understand what's happening.' She said as she pushed past him and went into her room with him following close behind. Walking to her dresser she picked up the note and pushed it into his palm. 'Read.'

As his eyes scanned the paper he furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. 'What's this?'

'I found this on the floor of Kakashi's apartment. That's your friend from the lair isn't it, Reiko. What is happening over here? Did you know Kakashi was dating?'

'FUCK! He shouldn't have left alone.' he exclaimed.

'Do you know what's happening?' Tell me something. Does this have something to do with you?'

'Unfortunately, I think it does. I need to tell you about how I ended up in the hospital yesterday; it wasn't chakra exhaustion like you were lead to believe.'

After he finished narrating the incidents of that day Rin just sat there processing everything that had happened from today.

'So you're telling me Reiko wants you and you think the reason why she went after Kakashi and the mystery girl was to get to you?'

'Yeah.'

'You can solve this then Obito can't you. If you go to her Kakashi can come back unharmed.' As soon as the words left her mouth she realised what a big mistake she made and she immediately lowered her head in shame. Obito on the other just stared at her shocked at what he had just heard. 'I'm sorry I didn't mean it like that.'

Scoffing he got up from the seat he had taken beside her. 'I can't believe you just said that. Even after all this time after everything I've done, wearing my heart out on my sleeve for you if you had to make a choice between Kakashi and me you would chose him in a heartbeat wouldn't you?'

Rin just looked down ashamed.

'WOULDN'T YOU?'

'I'm sorry Obito, I didn't mean to say that. Really, I don't know what just came over me.'

'Tell me something Rin, who would you rather be here with you right now. Kakashi or me?'

Rin was silent and continued to look down.

'Answer me goddammit.'

She immediately looked up, meeting his gaze. 'I'm not sure Obito, I don't know how to answer that question.'

Obito smiled sardonically 'Well you just did.' And with that he left her apartment.

 **. .**

 **Kakashi**

'Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu.' Both of them said in unison as the water from the river spiralled up and transformed into dragons before clashing against each other.

'You sure can fight; guess your reputation is true after all. No wonder Kisame wants to kill you so bad, you probably embarrassed poor fish boy during your encounter.'

'Since you know who you're dealing with I suggest you turn around and go back where you came from. I promise to not hurt you as long as I never catch sight of you again.'

'Cocky aren't we, guess Obito hasn't told you how powerful I am. Kisame will seem like a walk in the park compared to what I can put you through.'

'You already said Anko was left back safe in the village; so why do you even need me here, I know you aren't lying because I received confirmation from my ninken. If we're done I'm leaving.' He said as he slowly backed up.

'No you aren't.' she exclaimed and suddenly from behind the bushes two clones leapt at Kakashi forming handsigns. 'Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu.' But before the clones could reach Kakashi they were struck with kunais and dissolved into a puddle of water.

'Don't mock me. Do you really think I didn't notice your two friends hiding. I never intend to get caught in that claustrophobic space ever again.'

'You are good.' Laughing to herself Reiko unsheathed her katana before raising it to the sky. 'As much as I'd love to continue playing with you, I'm afraid we're going to have a visitor soon and I can't have you being a hindrance to me.' Channelling the chakra into her sword Kakashi saw as it started to get a blue hue around it. 'Storm Release: Lightning Devastation. You see unlike the usual lightning release attacks I possess a very special kekkei genkai that augments my lightning attacks, I'm sorry you had to be knocked out like this in such a painful manner but it had to be done. I really hope you don't try to dodge it as this attack will never miss, so spare yourself the trouble, I promise it will all be over soon and you'll wake up in Konoha as if this was all just a bad dream.'

As the storm clouds gathered and heated the atmosphere creating sparks; Kakashi looked ahead at Reiko, just before the bright spark of lightning released and came down at Kakashi he grinned and said 'I told you to not mock my abilities, this should teach you a lesson.' Leaping off the ground he rose towards the attack before channelling chakra into his hand. 'Lightning Cutter.' A blue mass emitting lightning sparks formed around his hand as he raised it towards the oncoming attack effectively splitting the attack in two.

Reiko stared on in shock. 'H-How did you do that? You should have been out cold; it isn't possible to counter my Lightning Devastation attack.'

'Guess there's a first time for everything.' Kakashi said as he started to form handsigns. 'Lightning Relea…' Kakashi suddenly felt himself lose consciousness as his hand instinctively went to the side of his neck. He felt a sharp object jutting out, pulling it out as he fell to the ground he saw a senbon coated in a green substance. _This bitch hit me with a senbon, but when._ 'How did y…' were the last words he uttered before he lost his consciousness.

'You sure are strong. You should be grateful you don't have to suffer the same fate Obito and I do, your world is simple, peaceful in comparison to ours. You did take me by surprise though, it's not every day you find someone gifted enough to counter an attack as strong as mine; unfortunately you failed to notice the third clone resting atop the tree. Like I promised you'll wake up peacefully in Konoha and thanks to you Obito should be on his way here right now. The job is done.'

 **. .**

 **Rin**

After Obito left Rin soaked herself in a warm bath going over the events of the crazy day she had just had. She was upset about what she had said and was worried about what Obito would do, but mulling over his question she felt the answer coming to her and that's what hurt her the most, the fact that when she thought about it she had a definite answer of who she wanted to be with her, Kakashi. She was able to make a choice between the two most important people in her life. What kind of a person was she that she would forsake her friend just so she could have a small chance to be with the one she loves, even though she knew he was spoken for, at least that's what she assumed from the note.

Getting out of the bath she walked to her cupboard, looking in the mirror she noticed something odd in her peripheral vision. Turning around she walked towards the shuriken pinned against her wall underneath which was a piece of paper.

Pulling it out she unfolded it and started to read.

 _Rin_

 _I'm sorry. Sorry that I lashed out at you, sorry for putting you through what I just did, sorry for just not being enough for you. Deep down I always knew you still loved Kakashi, I mean I'd have to be blind to have not noticed it._

 _By the time you'll be reading this I'd have left the village. I'm going to make things right for all of us and I promise Kakashi will come back unharmed. Don't worry too much about me, I'll be fine, I did survive it once and I now have something to keep me fighting for my survival stronger than ever, You._

 _It's probably best if you don't inform anyone about this especially not Kakashi, he'll take all the blame on himself and I don't want him to do that. It was my decision after all. And don't trouble sensei, he won't be able to find me where I'm going. It would be best if you all just carried on with your lives like you did before._

 _It's going to be a long time before I come back; and when I do I will be stronger than ever, Hokage material even, maybe you'll still be as madly in love with me then as you are now._

 _Rin, don't ever underestimate yourself; Kakashi is most likely just too shy to do anything about it, you do know he loves you a lot right. So just take a chance. I just hope that he's able to love you even a fraction of how much I did, that would make me the happiest person. I'd say I'm rooting for you but that would just be a lie because deep down I will always hope that you would love me the way you've loved him._

 _I wish I had the time to write everything I want to say to you, but I really need to get going to get past the border rotation unnoticed. So I'll end this by saying what I think sums up everything I want to say._

 _I love you Rin Nohara; I always have, I always will._

* * *

 **So here you have it guys, this officially ends phase 2, or maybe next chapter does. I'm not sure. haha.**

 **I hope you liked this chapter and enjoyed the twists.**

 **Till next time. Take care :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys, I'm finally done with finals and with that am officially halfway through my degree. I swear to god the idea of being done with uni in another 1 & 1/2 years is so daunting. But now that i'm back expect the updates to be a bit more regular.**

 **Like I said; this chapter starts the third and final phase of this story. I don't want to bore you with filler like transitional chapters; of course I won't write in such a way that the story feels discontinuous and confusing either, as you'll may have noticed I have a particular style of writing and you'll continue to see that just that scene jumps might have a longer time gap than before.**

 **Btw, for those of you that are interested. I have started my first shikatema multichap story _Art of the Pickup_ ; please do give it a read and share your support like always. Thanks :)**

 **Before we start this chapter I want to thank all those of you that have recently started reading and following the story, thank you for your support and reviews, it's much appreciated.**

 **This chapter was a lot of fun to write and a lot of it was on the spot improvisation to my muse. It does have some unexpected plot twists, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **So, here's chapter 12.**

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Progression**

 _Sitting on the bed she stared ahead in shock at what she had just heard._

' _Don't worry, nothing is wrong with you. We'll take care of you just fine.'_

 _Getting out of the bed she started towards the door. 'My discharge procedures have been completed right, I'll be on my way then.'_

' _You shouldn't take too much stress; it is not good for you.'_

' _I'll be fine, thank you for your concern.'_

 **. .**

'Kakashi… Kakashi can you hear me?'

Blinking his eyes open he was greeted by the sight of a worried looking Rin.

'Where am I?' he asked as he scanned the surroundings of the white room he was in.

'You're in the hospital, in Konoha.'

Remembering the events that took place before he lost consciousness he quickly sat up and immediately winced at the pain the sudden action caused.

'Easy there Kakashi, just cause you've been out of it for the past two days doesn't mean you're completely healed.'

 _Two days huh, that bitch sure did a number on me._

'Rin…' he paused realising what he was about to ask, 'Is Anko alright?'

'Don't worry, she's doing just fine. She visited you yesterday after she got discharged.' Rin replied smiling sadly.

'That's good. She wasn't hurt.' Turning to sit at the edge of the bed he met Rin's gaze as he crinkled his eye and smiled. 'C'mon let's get done with the discharge procedure. I never liked hospitals much anyways.'

'Kakashi… Obito isn't…'

'I know what happened Rin, there wasn't anything we could have done. It was all Reiko's doing; though I have to give it to her she knew perfectly well how to work on our weaknesses. I really wish he hadn't come rushing in to save me, I could have taken his place.'

'It wasn't your fault Kakashi.'

'I know.' He said as he stared at his lap before looking up again. 'Let's finish the discharge quickly now, I'm starving.'

 **. .**

 _Running through the hospital corridors she had come as soon as she had received the message. On reaching near his room his door slid opened as a purple haired kunoichi exited._

' _Oh. Hi Rin.' Anko said on noticing the brunette._

' _How are you feeling?'_

' _Much better, I should be fine with some more rest. Here to see Kakashi I assume?'_

' _Yeah, how is he doing?'_

 _She turned her head to look at his door before replying. 'Well he is still out of it. Tsunade said it'd be at least another day before he regains consciousness but he will be fine.' She finished as she turned back to face Rin with a smile._

' _Okay I better get going now.' Anko said as she started to leave._

' _Wait Anko.'_

 _She turned behind to see Rin staring at the ground._

' _Are you... Are you and Kakashi seeing each other?'_

 _She stared at the girl for a second before laughing. 'Don't be ridiculous Rin; he doesn't have his eyes on me. Yeah we've slept together a couple of times but that's it. How could we be seeing each other, he is in love with you after all.'_

 _Rin immediately met Anko's gaze, confused at what she had just heard._

' _And I can see you're in love with him too. So stop delaying it and make a move already. Every second is a blessing in the life of a shinobi. Don't waste time by overthinking the issue and allow yourselves some happiness. God knows he'll need it now more than ever. Don't worry about me, he won't be seeing me anymore, I think it's time I put a stop to whatever this thing is that we have going on. I won't come in the way of your relationship; you can trust me on that.' And with that she turned back around and walked away leaving a very confused Rin standing in the hallway._

 _ **. .**_

Walking up the stairs he rounded the corner before stopping in front of the door. He started to make the hand signs required to disable the traps but stopped midway when he realised he was going to set off the traps as he wasn't making any headway with them. He then pulled up the mat to take out the key only to find it wasn't there.

 _She changed the combination and took away the key. What's going on?_

He knocked on the door and waited for her to answer.

'Anko.' He called out as he knocked again when she didn't answer the first time.

'I'm not in the mood today Kakashi; another time maybe.' She replied from behind closed doors.

'I need to speak with you.'

'We'll talk tomorrow, it's late.'

'No Anko. We need to talk now, especially after what we just went through.'

There was silence for a few seconds before the locks clicked and the door opened revealing Anko.

'You said you wanted to talk, so talk.'

'I'm sorry you had to go through that, she didn't hurt you did she?'

'It wasn't your fault I'm not your responsibility, I can take care of myself.'

'I know you can, but it wouldn't have happened if we had been more careful. I don't know what I would have done with myself if something were to happen to you.'

Anko scoffed before replying. 'Why do you always feel the need to take the burden on yourself, everything isn't your fault you know.'

'I know, I just… you were kidnapped because they knew they could use you against me.'

'I'm glad you came to meet me today actually, there was something I needed to tell you too. We can't meet anymore; we have to stop whatever it is we do.'

Looked into her eyes he raised his hand as he cupped it against her cheek. 'Anko.'

'I thought about it Kakashi, what are we doing? We aren't in love right? We need to stop fooling ourselves. Whatever we've been doing; whatever this is, it needs to stop. It is toxic for you it is toxic for me, we're just limiting ourselves by letting it go on, holding each other back from what we deserve.'

'Is this because of what happened?'

'No Kakashi, this is because I can't continue doing this. It's not healthy. You're in love with someone else for god's sake; go to her, hold on to her, why are you even wasting your time with me? Rin is in love with you and you her so what is holding you back. With our lives being as unpredictable as it is don't give yourself the opportunity to regret the choices you were never brave enough to make.'

'You were never a waste of time Anko.'

Smiling she took his hand from her cheek and laced his fingers with hers. 'How could I have ever been when you kept on coming back for more. Right now you two need each other more than ever, you need to be strong and overcome Obito leaving the village. Besides, she loves you as much as you love her, maybe more, you're kind of dense to not have noticed it yet.'

'Of course I've noticed. It's just that, what if it doesn't work out. What if we aren't perfect for each other. Besides even though she doesn't know it yet, she has strong feelings for Obito, she probably loves us both equally, she's just afraid to admit it to herself.'

'But Obito isn't here, you're here. She needs you.'

There was a silence after that as the two of them came to terms with what they were doing.

'So this is the end for us huh?'

'I guess it is.' She said as she loosened her grip on his hand allowing her fingers to fall away from his. 'It was fun while it lasted Kakashi, but it's time we grow up and go our own ways, focus on ourselves and love whom we truly love.'

Snaking his hand around her waist he pulled her closer as he met her lips in a soft kiss for the last time. Breaking the kiss he was about to leave when Anko called out to him.

'Don't hold out on her for too long Kakashi and don't think too much about the _what if's._ There is no perfect relationship there is always going to be some struggle; you just have to choose who you want to struggle with.'

'Goodbye Anko.' He waved to her as he walked away from her apartment.

'Goodbye Kakashi.' She whispered.

Closing the door behind her she leaned against the door as she slid down with her hand over her belly. As she felt the tears well up in her eyes she looked to the ceiling in an attempt to stop herself from crying.

'C'mon Anko, when did you get so weak. You've got to be strong; it isn't just you anymore.' Gently stroking her belly she smiled through the tears. 'Don't worry baby, your mommy isn't crying, she is one of the scariest kunoichi in this village. Don't hate your daddy okay; he doesn't even know anything yet and hopefully he never will, it's just better that way. I'll take care of you just fine, just you and me. Okay?'

Hearing her stomach grumble she got off the floor. 'Guess you're hungry. I'll make us some delicious food right away.'

 **. .**

In the dark of the night he jumped through the rooftops with such silence that only a shinobi of his level would possess. Dropping onto the deserted streets he made a turn into the back alley behind the convenience store. Stopping in front of the third door he knocked thrice before stepping back. A few moments later the speakeasy grill slid open as someone looked through before the door opened for him. As he walked into the dimly lit room he felt all eyes on him before someone greeted him from behind the counter.

'It's been a long time; you do know we don't welcome anyone that isn't one of us. But I guess you're still one of us, you were after all one our strongest members and from the looks of it the black and grey uniform still fits.'

As he walked up to the counter he took off his headband and slid it through the gap in the grill as the man behind the grill took it and returned with a tanto and a white porcelain mask with black and red markings that resembled the face of a dog.

'The same one as before, it's still in perfect condition.'

Taking the mask, he traced his fingers along its contours before sliding it on. 'When can I start?'

'Oh but you never stopped Hatake-san, once an ANBU always an ANBU. I'm sure your comrades, at least the ones still alive, would be pleased to hear that the legendary Silver Reaper is back on the squad.'

 **. .**

 _ **2 weeks later**_

 _Where in the world is Kakashi, I haven't seen him since that day he got discharged. He is never home, I've been visiting his place every day for the past two weeks; or maybe he is purposely never there when I'm there. Please stop avoiding me Kakashi, I can't have lost both you and Obito at the same time, how will I cope when you both are the only ones I have and neither of you are there when I need you the most. Please show yourself to me and stop hiding._

She was woken up by someone lifting her up and taking her inside the apartment. Coming to her senses she jumped out of the person's arm and stared at them. He was a brown haired ANBU ninja wearing a black sleeveless uniform with a grey flak jacket and had a white ANBU mask on. Looking at the surroundings she noticed she was inside Kakashi's apartment.

'Who are you and why do you have access to Kakashi's apartment?'

'Well you were fast asleep on my doorstep, so I figured I might as well have brought you inside to sleep.'

'Who are you?'

Taking off the ANBU mask he dropped the henge to reveal a silver haired nin with an eye patch over his left eye and a mask covering his lower face.

'Kakashi!'

'Hello Rin, sorry that I haven't been around, you see I've been quite occupied lately.'

 **. .**

 ** _Somewhere in a small town located within the Land of Wind._**

'Fancy running into you here. This just made my day. You do know Lord Orochimaru has placed a 5 million bounty on your head, 15 million if we get the other one back alive. So tell me; where I can find him and I'll make it a painless death for you.'

Dropping the grocery bags down the brunette smirked at the ninja in front of her. 'Has no one taught you to be respectful to ninjas much stronger than you, do you have a death wish boy?'

'If you think I'm here on my own you're in for quite the surprise.' He said as he whistled.

Suddenly two kunai whizzed through the air towards the brunette, Smirking she unsheathed her blade ready for the attack but before the kunai reached her they were knocked out of their path by shurikens. Looking up the two ninja saw a black haired man sitting on the rooftop twirling a kunai around his finger

'I leave you alone for five minutes to do the grocery and you're already causing trouble. What would you do without me Reiko?'

'Lead a happy life probably.'

'Ha ha ha, you're hilarious you know.' The man said in mock amusement.

'Well what do we have here; both the jackpots in the same spot. Boys we're going to be very rich after today.'

Looking at the blabbering nin the man raised his eyebrow. 'Reiko; who is this clown?'

'Beats me Obito. Probably one of Orochimaru's lackeys.'

'You're going to regret saying that, boys come on out. Let's teach these fools a lesson.'

'Yes boys, please come out.' Obito said as he leapt of the building and landed besides Reiko as soon as a group of ninjas emerged from hiding.

'…Fifteen, sixteen, seventeen; seventeen ninjas. Eight for you nine for me.'

'Why do I get eight?'

'Because I'm clearly stronger than you boy, we don't want to put you at a disadvantage now do we.'

'Will you two just shut up, you're both going to be dead in a few seconds anyways. ATTACK!'

The group charged at the two of them, throwing ninja tools and forming hand signs in an attempt to incapacitate them both. Reiko and Obito quickly formed hand signs of their own and took out the group in less than a minute.

As Obito walked towards the man slowly crawling away from them he started to form his hand signs.

'Please forgive me, I'll never come in your way again. I swear you will never see me again. I will leave the two of you alone, please just spare me.'

'Oh we'll never see you again clown, that's for sure. Don't worry, it will all be _painless,_ as you mentioned-.'

Before Obito could complete his sentence a flurry of ice shards impaled the man's body.

'Hey no fair, I was going to finish him off.'

'I told you before; nine for me, eight for you.'

Standing in the middle of the carnage they noticed the scared and frightened looks the villagers gave them.

'Guess our time's up here, we better get moving before word spreads about our whereabouts.' Reiko said as the two of them jumped to the rooftops and left the market place.

…

'So there's a bounty on our heads huh? Guess Orochimaru must really want you.'

'Yeah, that would explain the fools that tried to sneak up on you the other day.'

'You do know what this means right, we're going to be on the run for a long time.'

'Isn't that what I signed up for when you told me your plan two weeks ago.'

'You know we can always go back to your village, your people are more than capable of handling an attack from all of Orochimaru's men.'

'I know they are, but it wouldn't be without loss, and I can't do that to them. They don't deserve to sacrifice themselves for me.'

'Always the selfless one aren't you.'

'So where to next? I hear the Land of Lightning is beautiful this time of the year.'

'That will be a long journey. Sounds like fun.'

* * *

 **So, hope you liked this chapter. How was the surprise?**

 **Thank you for reading nevertheless.**

 **Till next time, :)**


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey guys, we're in the last bits of this story. I have like 3 more chapters planned before we finally end this great journey.**

 **I've been waiting to write this chapter for such a long time now that when I started it I couldn't believe it's been a year since I posted the first chapter. When I thought about the scenes for this chapter I was so excited because of the emotions it made me feel. I think this is and will be my most favorite chapter that I wrote for the story. So I really hope you guys love it because I genuinely loved writing this chapter.**

 **I really have to thank the band Secondhand Serenade; they set the perfect mood for me to write the second half of the chapter. If you haven't heard their songs you really should, they're amazing.**

 **So for those of you that are interested, when you reach the second half of the chapter open up youtube, search for the song _Stranger_ by Secondhand Serenade, turn on autoplay and continue reading. I like reading the chapter that way but ofcourse you're free to enjoy it the way you like.**

 **So, here's chapter 13. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Confessions.**

Crouching on the rooftop opposite his apartment he stared at her. She appeared to be soundly asleep against his door, tranquil; free from all the problems from recent events that currently plagued her mind. Who could blame her though; she never asked for any of this. Both the boys she loved had disappeared from her life without a trace, choosing instead to revert back to their old lives from a few years ago when everyone had separated from each other. It was almost like history chose to repeat itself once again, leaving her alone and abandoned all over again.

 _We're going to sort everything out tonight Rin. I'm sorry for abandoning you when you needed me the most but I couldn't have helped you when I was clearly in need of clarity myself._

Dropping down to his apartment he silently undid the traps and opened the door to his house before carefully lifting Rin and heading inside. He felt her stir in his arms before slowly blinking her eyes open. As soon as she registered what was happening she jumped out of his hands and got into a defensive stance.

'Who are you and why do you have access to Kakashi's apartment?'

 _I forgot I still have the henge active._ He thought as he smiled under the mask.

'Well you were fast asleep on my doorstep, so I figured I might as well have brought you inside to sleep.'

'Who are you?'

Taking off the ANBU mask he dropped the henge to reveal a silver haired nin with an eye patch over his left eye and a mask covering his lower face.

'Kakashi!'

'Hello Rin, sorry that I haven't been around, you see I've been occupied.'

She stared at him for a moment making sure she heard him right before closing the gap to hit him which he effectively dodged before holding her wrist in order to prevent being hit again. 'Sorry? SORRY? It's been two weeks Kakashi, TWO FUCKING WEEKS since you suddenly disappeared without a trace; what do you expect me to assume. You were never home; no one knew where you were, I actually thought something had happened to you. And you show up here out of the blue in ANBU uniform and say you're sorry; you were occupied. God I want to punch you so bad right now.'

'I'm sorry Rin; I needed some time away from everything. I had to figure some things out for myself, it was important I did.'

Seemingly calmer after her little outburst she pulled her hand free from Kakashi's grip as she took a step back. 'So, did you figure out what you had to?'

He smiled before answering. 'I think I did, which is why I felt the need to make myself available again.'

'That's good. I did some thinking of my own over the past two weeks and I think I need to tell you something.'

'Before you do; I think it's important I speak first. Tell me what you have to say after you've heard everything I have to say. I want to prevent as much heartbreak as I can, and I have strong feeling you're going to hate me after I'm done talking.'

'Okay, I was thinking the same thing; you probably aren't expecting what I've to say either.' Rin said as she took a seat on his couch.

'So I've been thinking, about us. I know you've loved me for a while Rin and I would be lying if I said I didn't feel the same way, the main reason I didn't act on it was because I felt I would be betraying Obito if I did, and it was the least I could do after we thought we lost him. But then miraculously he came back into our lives three years ago and I thought maybe I still owed it to him to not act on my feelings for you. But then two months ago I thought I was allowed to be selfish, maybe I deserved some happiness and the day you got promoted to jonin I had come back to your place after we dropped you off, but I guess Obito beat me to it.' He said as Rin felt a tear roll down her cheek on remembering the events of that night.

'I was happy for you guys, I really was, so that night I went and visited a friend of ours. You see I've been visiting this friend for a while now. She eases my pain, I find solace whenever I am with her, it's like she makes the horrors of being a shinobi disappear and eases my nightmares, the ones where I'm constantly plagued by the thought of losing you and Obito. Well two weeks ago after I got discharged, I went to speak with Anko, because even that night, even we had lost Obito once again I could see that you still wanted to be with me. I wanted to ask her if I should finally act on what we felt and try and have a relationship with you, wanted to know if I deserved to be happy.'

'And what did she say?'

'That's the thing; I never got to ask her. Before I could bring it up she told me I had to stop seeing her and went on to tell me to make it happen with you. Said I should stop denying myself the happiness I deserve.'

'But?'

'But?' he asked. 'What do you mean _but_?'

'There was obviously a but coming, you didn't start that monologue to tell me you got approval from Anko.' She said as she smiled softly.

Kakashi just looked down at his feet before continuing. 'I guess you do know me much better than I expected.' He said as he looked up to meet her gaze. 'As I was coming over to your place, something felt very odd, it felt like I had just lost a piece of myself a part of me I never knew I had and I felt the incessant urge to get it back.'

'So, you headed to one of the ANBU headquarters and re-enlisted to give yourself time to figure out what it was that you lost?'

'Yeah.'

'Before you tell me what it was, allow me to do this just once.' She said as she got off the couch and closed the distance between them, cupping his face she stood on her toes before pulling him down into a kiss.

Closing his eyes he wrapped his arm around the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. And just as soon as it started the kiss was over.

'I think I know what you want to say, and I'm glad it ended up that way because I've been thinking a lot lately. Thinking about you; thinking about Obito and I realised something. I've been lying to myself Kakashi, the same way you've been lying to yourself. We aren't really in love with each other, yes I love you and you love me, but I'm not in love with you, I think I'm in love with the idea of you and the idea of being loved by you. Can't believe it took Obito leaving again to make me realise what I feel for him.' She said as tears started rolling down her face. 'I don't know what to do Kakashi, I messed up. He left because of me; because he thought I wasn't in love with him. And now he's gone and I can't even tell him how much I love him.' She said as she finally broke down releasing all the pent up emotions as Kakashi just hugged her against him and tried to soothe her.

'Don't worry Rin, he knows you love him. I promise, I will bring him back to us even if it's the last thing I do.'

When she had finally calmed down she wiped her palms across her face to erase any traces of tears that had been left behind. 'I think you should leave now.'

'Well we are in my apartment, where should I go to?'

Laughing she playfully shoved his shoulders. 'That's not what I meant. I meant you should go to Anko, tell her how you feel. Do it before it's too late. She does love you y'know, more than she lets on. I'm going to give you some advice that she gave me. Every second is precious in the life of a shinobi; so seriously get on with it before someone comes and steals her away from you. She is a catch after all.' Rin said as Kakashi stared at her impassively.

'Like I'd let that happen.' He said before he leapt out of the window.

 **. .**

Kakashi had to admit to himself, the past two weeks were a much needed breather. He had to figure out his conflicting feelings; and re-enlisting as an ANBU gave him the space he required to sort things out. He wasn't exactly sure when things started to change between them, but over the course of the year their relationship had slowly and very subtly developed into something more than what they had originally intended it to be. She wasn't just a warm body he'd go to at night in order to relieve the pent up stress and frustration that came with the job, no; she was much more than that to him. She was someone he grew to deeply care about, his reckless actions two weeks ago were proof enough for the same.

They slowly began to lower their defences around each other as they carefully peeled back the layers guarding their innermost desires and secrets till they were both baring their soul for the other to see. And in spite of that they still chose to stay, they chose to stay even after knowing all the dark secrets the other kept hidden inside. They were both broken people, broken from being exposed to horrors that would turn any sane person crazy, and when you're that broken it feels like nothing will ever be right anymore like you don't deserve the same things others do because you'll never be normal again. And then one day someone comes in to your life and without you knowing it they've picked up the pieces and carefully put you back together, and you know everything will be alright once again. They show you that you deserve to love and to be loved; they show you that you deserve to have all the happiness in the world because in spite of what the world has thrown at you, you've managed to get up and move on ahead. And it was all clear to him; in that process of healing and being healed, Kakashi had inadvertently fallen deeply in love with Anko.

Carefully undoing the traps he slipped in through her window.

 _Looks like she didn't change all the traps after all._

As soon as he landed on the floor he saw her jump up from the dining table armed with a kunai.

'Kakashi?' she spoke through a full mouth causing Kakashi to smile at her. Quickly chewing the food she swallowed it before continuing. 'What are you doing here?'

'This.' he said as he quickly got rid of the space between them. Pulling down his mask he dipped down and captured her lips in his while his hand snaked around her waist to pull her closer to him. She soon gave in to the kiss and her hands found their way in his hair. Letting his hands roam lower he carefully hoisted her up till she sat on the table. As he stood between her parted legs he started to trail kisses along her jaw before moving to her neck and taking his time on that sensitive spot that he knew drove her crazy.

Throwing her head back she let out a soft sigh as the familiar feeling started to cloud her mind until she remembered what happened two weeks ago and she pushed him off of her.

'Stop, we can't do this anymore. I told you we had to stop,' she said. 'Why aren't you with Rin?'

Smiling he took her hands in his. 'I did a lot of thinking in the past two weeks Anko, I made myself scarce and re-enlisted in the ANBU as you probably would have guessed on seeing my attire. I had a lot of things that I needed to figure out for myself, and one thing stood out for me during that time was what you said to me two weeks ago. I agree, there is no perfect relationship, and we have to choose who we want to struggle with, and that's why I'm here Anko; I choose you, I want you to be the one I struggle with.'

'You don't mean that, you're in love with Rin. Besides we won't work we'll just end up hurting each other and we'll eventually grow to hate each other. Its better we end it this way, at least we'll be left with the good memories.'

'I thought that too, turns out I was fooling myself. The day you told me we had to end this I had the constant thought of what life would be like without you. Not being able to come to you, not being able to confide in you, not spending my night with you and not being able to wake up besides you. I don't know when it happened, but over the past year I've slowly but surely fallen for you, and I don't want to wake up one day and realise that I missed out on the closest thing I've ever felt to a soulmate because I didn't have the courage to fight hard enough for her.' Raising his hand he rubbed his calloused fingers against her cheek as she leaned in to his touch. 'Ofcourse we're going to hurt each other Anko, there are going to be rough days, there are going to be times you'll want to take a kunai to my throat, but in the past two weeks I realised something important. I don't want any ordinary lover, I want you, I want endless conversations and passion filled sleepless nights. You make me feel like I can never get enough of you and that's scary but that's also what makes it exciting, even if gives me just the slightest bit of happiness even if we crash and burn in the end, I'm willing to risk it all if it means I get to spend just one more moment with you.'

He carefully rubbed away the tears that managed to escape before kissing her lips. As he hooked his fingers under her tank top he slowly peeled it over her head before staring at her, even though they had been doing this for a year he was still amazed by how beautiful she looked, kunoichi were in itself extremely fit but there was something about the way Anko's curves looked under the dim light of her apartment.

Running his hands along the side of her body he gently fanned his palm across her small belly. 'Looks like someone's been slacking off their training, you're getting fat Anko.' He said as he chuckled.

Anko stared at him before she suddenly released the floodgates and tears started falling down her face. Kakashi stared at her, shocked at receiving such a reaction from her, he never expected to see her cry. 'Anko I was kidding, you don't look fat, really; you look beautiful.' He said as he quickly kissed her forehead. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that.'

'Ass.' She said as she started chuckling, taking his hand in hers she placed it over her small belly. 'I'm fat because I'm pregnant Kakashi.'

As soon as he heard the words his eyes grew wide as he stared at her in surprise. 'How long have you known?'

'They told me when i was getting discharged at the hospital, it's around 8 weeks old now.'

'Anko-' he stopped unsure how to ask the question.

Feeling like she could read his thoughts, she smiled before pulling his face in for a quick kiss. 'It's ours.' She said against his lips and immediately felt a hot tear fall on her cheek.

Smiling at her he wiped his cheek before he lowered his face to her belly. 'I'm going to be a father. Hi kiddo. I just learnt I'm going to be a father, Do you know how cool that is. I created you with your beautiful mommy here, you're our child.' He said as he laughed in excitement while Anko played with his hair; smiling at the sight of the deadly copy-nin being humbled by the prospect of being a father.

'By the way I was wondering,' he started before blushing. 'Can we still?'

Laughing she wrapped her arms around his neck. 'Yes it's perfectly safe, and you better finish what you just started.'

Grinning he lifted her up as they made their way to the bedroom. 'I love you Anko, everything's going to be okay. We're going to have a beautiful family; you, me and our little kiddo over here.'

Sighing against his chest, she relaxed in his arms. 'Promise me you'll never leave me again Kakashi.'

'I promise Anko, I'll be with you till the very end.'

* * *

 **So, what did you guys think? Liked that everything appears to be sorted out for now, well almost everything, Obito is still out of the picture.**

 **Thanks for reading.**

 **Till next time. :)**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys, it's been a while. Got caught up with life and was kept busy, but choppy net for the past 2 days prompted me to finish up a chapter.**

 **This is my longest piece of writing ever, 4k words (not that big of a feat to many of you I'm sure :P). Originally this chapter was meant to include the whole of next chapter as well but while writing I got caught up with the scenes and ended up pushing 4k for it, at which point I had to decide whether to dish out a 7k chapter or update today (well you already know what I chose).**

 **Also, Naruto Shippuden is officially over. It is officially the end of an era! No Spoilers, but did you guys like the last episode? I personally would have preferred more from it.**

 **Before we start, mad shoutout to all the favoriters, followers and reviewers. Your support is deeply appreciated. :D**

 **Anyways, here's a chapter I had been putting off writing for the past 3 months cause I really didn't want to finish the story already. Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 14: The Rescue Mission.**

Bursting into the Hokage's office he felt all eyes turn to look at him. He had sprinted out of his house as soon as he was relayed the message by the ANBU, _Report to the Hokage's office immediately, Obito has been found._ He still couldn't believe his ears, after two months, they finally had intel on where Obito was held captive.

As he scanned the faces in the room, he stopped as soon as he recognized the brunette standing in the far corner of the room.

'You! You have some nerve showing up here, I will kill you right here, right now.' and with that Kakashi charged at Reiko only to be stopped in his tracks by Shikaku's _Shadow Paralysis Jutsu_.

'I can understand where your frustration comes from, but if you want to have any chance of finding your friend I suggest you leave her alive.' He sighed, 'After all, she is the only one that knows the location of the hideout where Obito is kept captive.'

Kakashi looked back at Reiko shocked at what he had just heard. 'Why should we trust you?'

'Well she did come to us herself, willingly submitted herself to have her mind probed by T&I, and we have learnt a few interesting things about what Obito has been up to for the past two months since he went rogue.' Minato said.

'I know it may be hard for you to trust me after our last encounter, but believe me I only had Obito's best interests in mind, it was all part of the plan to lure him out of the village just so we could get away from Orochimaru. He is persistent and will stop at nothing to have Obito's sharingan. I'm truly sorry for getting you and your girlfriend tangled up in our mess.'

'You have a girlfriend Kakashi?' Minato turned his attention towards his former student, intrigued by the new development, 'I thought you'd tell me that much at least, you have hurt your Sensei's feelings. Who is she?'

Grinning sheepishly, Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck while he crinkled his eye, 'Oh it's not been that long Sensei, just about one and a half months. It is Anko. But I'll let you in on a secret that not many know. We're expecting a baby.' He said smiling.

'WHAT! You're going to be a father?' Minato said before bursting into a fit of laughter. 'I would pay good money to see you handle that duty. Wow you guys sure are growing up fast. I can't believe it's been almost six years since we went out on our last mission as a squad, I am very proud of you guys.'

They were interrupted by a brunette that had kept silent all this time, 'Hokage, Kakashi; now isn't the time to reminisce about the past. We have an extremely time sensitive issue on our hands.' Turning to face Reiko she continued, 'You still haven't told us what happened over the past two months. Moreover, how did Obito end up getting captured if your plan was so foolproof.'

'When I lured Obito out of Konoha it wasn't because I was following orders. To be honest we intended to get a head start and evade Orochimaru and we've been on the run for the past two months. That was his plan; to not get anyone involved in his problems. I even asked him to come and seek refuge in Konoha a month ago as we were most likely labelled as missing by then, but he didn't want to put anyone he cared for in harm's way for his sake. So we moved from town to town, disguising ourselves as travellers, until someone recognized us because of the bounty placed on our heads, at which point we got rid of them and found a new place to hide. It was the perfect plan, but I guess our luck had to run out eventually. Three days ago near the border of the Land of Fire, while we were fending off some of Orochimaru's lackeys that thought it would be easy to take us on and get their hands on the bounty, we were ambushed by Kisame. He just happened to be nearby and immediately caught on to our chakra signatures. I know I could have taken him on myself, but when we were caught unawares and that too immediately after a fight he had the upper hand and beat us. He being his arrogant self must have thought he had finished me off and left me to die, but I managed to escape after he left with Obito. I wasn't sure where to go, I couldn't leave Obito and make a run for it, so I came here and hoped that you'd be willing to do something to help out a comrade.'

As she finished speaking, Minato turned his gaze to Rin and Kakashi and spoke in a serious tone 'The thing Reiko seems to be leaving out is the fact that Orochimaru has mastered a forbidden jutsu called the immortality jutsu, and he plans on taking over Obito's body as his first host.'

'He can't do that, can he?' Rin asked, aghast at the prospect.

'I'm not sure, but I know I don't want to find out at Obito's expense.' Minato replied.

'So what do you propose we do?' Kakashi asked.

'Rin, Kakashi, from this moment on you are officially being sent on an S-rank mission. The objective is to infiltrate Orochimaru's hideout and bring Obito back to the hidden leaf village. You have an hour to get everything you require for the mission and rendezvous at the main gate.'

'Um, Sensei, how do we find out where the hideout is?' Rin asked.

'Oh, did I forget to mention. Well Reiko will be the third member of your squad.' Minato said smiling.

Both of them turned to look at Reiko, clearly unhappy with the situation. 'You better not mess this up. If I find even the slightest hint of your intention to betray us, believe me, I will not hesitate to run a kunai through you heart.' Kakashi said before he and Rin left the Hokage's office.

* * *

 **. .**

Crouching on the tree branch the trio stared out at a small hut that stood in front of them.

'That is his current location, figures he'd be here it is after all his most favorite hideout.'

Kakashi just stared at Reiko as if she was delusional. 'Are you sure we're in the right place? This looks to be the size of my apartment back home and there haven't been any chakra signatures for miles.'

Turning her head towards the silver haired nin, Reiko smiled. 'Why do you think Orochimaru loves this place so much, that hut is just what you see on the surface, below it is an intricate maze of passageways that is easy to get lost in, moreover the place is lined with a special rock that masks the chakra of anyone within it, so if you don't know what you're looking for you are certainly going to overlook this place as a deserted old shack.'

'So what's the plan, do we just storm the front?' Rin asked.

'I shall infiltrate the place, I know my way around the best. You both stay here, be on guard and await my signal because as soon as you receive my signal this area will turn into a battle zone. There shouldn't be that many people here, Orochimaru doesn't like bringing even his most loyal subordinates over here. My guess is there will be about five underlings that we'll have to deal with besides him and Kisame.' She replied before looking at Rin. 'Rin, we will need you to be ready to heal Obito immediately. There is a very good chance that he'd be physically drained and exhausted and will be in need of medical assistance. We need to avoid fighting as far as possible. Our ideal, albeit highly unlikely strategy would be if we can get out without running into any skirmish, but taking a realistic approach we need to avoid Kisame and Orochimaru as far as possible because if we encounter them our casualty rate is gonna be high.'

Rin just nodded her head; an expression of worry marred her face at the thought of Obito's condition.

'Alright then, we will wait out here. We're counting on you to do your part. What signal are we supposed to look out for though?'

Grinning at Kakashi she started forming hand signs, 'Oh you'll see.' She said before disappearing into a puff of smoke.

* * *

 _An hour later._

'Do you think she was probably seen and captured?'

'Have some patience Kakashi, she said she would handle it, I trust she cares enough about Obito's well-being to see her part through.' Rin said as she turned to face Kakashi.

'It's the only logical explanation, it's been over an hour and there have been absolutely no signs of any activity. Think about it, it's very much possible.'

'Why do you have to be so negative?'

'I'm just being rational here; maybe we gave her too much credit and overestimated her abilities.'

Sighing she turned to look ahead at the hut. 'Think what you want, I'd like to have a little more faith in her than you do.'

'Whatever you say.' As soon as Kakashi completed his sentence there was a deafening explosion and the ground started to cave in 200 meters away.

'Well looks like she pulled through, I told you.' Rin said as she smiled at Kakashi before leaping to the ground.

'She said a signal, who was she trying to alert, all the shinobi nations?' Kakashi muttered to himself before jumping after Rin.

* * *

As they neared the site, they counted seven chakra signatures amidst the rubble and dust that the explosion had created. Pulling out kunais from their holsters they readied themselves for the oncoming fight.

Suddenly two figures leapt past them and landed a few meters behind them. Turning around they were greeted by a brunette who was weighed down by a guy leaning against her shoulder.

Carefully lowering Obito on the ground, she made him lay down before meeting Rin's gaze. Reiko could clearly see the worry written all over Rin's face as she saw Obito in his bruised condition.

'Don't worry too much; he isn't in harm's way. Orochimaru wouldn't ruin his future body. You do need to help him by healing him with your medical jutsu.' Reiko finished with a soft smile.

Immediately shunshining besides Obito, Rin knelt down next to him and let her chakra flow though his body to heal his wounds. Looking down at Rin work on healing Obito, Reiko started walking toward where Kakashi stood, Obito would be well looked after in the presence of Rin, moreover they had more pressing matters on hand like the 5 guards that were collecting their bearings amidst the settling dust.

* * *

'Looks like you pulled through.' Kakashi smirked as Reiko reached beside him.

'Told you it'd be a breeze for me.' She said as she pulled out two kunais from her holster, 'These guys however shouldn't be underestimated; Orochimaru would only keep strong subordinates as guards over here.'

'Don't joke around; these excuses for shinobi are not even worth my time.' He said as he pulled up his hitai-ate uncovering his left eye.

'I am serious Kakashi, underestimate them and it could be the last mistake you make in this life.'

Unsheathing the tanto on his back he let his chakra flow through it as it started to crackle with a blue aura, 'Like I said, don't place me on the level of these small frys.' He said as he leapt past the cloud of dust into enemy territory.

A few seconds later, a shrill scream was heard followed by the sound of a body falling to the ground.

'Shit, the enemy is attacking. Everyone, be on guard.' A man said.

Suddenly the dust started to be blown up clearing the battlefield, 'Wind Style: Wind Slicer Jutsu.' a man said as he smirked at Kakashi who stood beside a dead body with a gaping gash through his chest. 'Not bad, you managed to take out our newest member without breaking a sweat. However, I can assure you the four of us will not be taken down as easily.'

'You seem to be giving yourselves too much credit.' Kakashi said, 'If you want to live to see tomorrow I suggest you take your friends and leave, I promise not to kill anymore of you.'

Breaking into a loud laugh, the man held his stomach before suddenly stopping and glaring at Kakashi, 'You're very cocky. I hate your kind the most' He said as he pulled out the katana attached to his waistband before screaming out to his members, 'Ukon and Sakon, I trust the two of you can handle Reiko.'

'Leave her to us Jiren.' The twins replied.

'What about Dadan? What should Dadan do, Jiren?' A tall, huge man asked.

'Dadan, you get rid of the girl and retrieve Obito. Should be a simple enough task for you.'

'Oh yaay, then can Dadan play more with Obito? He is fun to beat.' Dadan said as he clapped his hands and started walking forward.

'Hey fat-fuck. Take another step towards Obito and I'll kill you.' Kakashi said as he glanced at him through the corner of his eye.

'I told you, you cocky brat, your little roadshow ends here. I'll make sure I kill you nice and slow just so you can watch your group die in front of your eyes.' The blade of his katana then lit up in fire, 'Fire Style: Flame Sword.'

'Oooh, you made Jiren mad. You're dead.' Dadan laughed as he started running towards Rin and Obito.

Closing his eyes, Kakashi smiled. 'I've been wanting to try this for a while.' He said as he slowly opened his eyes revealing the tomoe of his left eye that had come together to form a kaleidoscopic pattern. 'Mangekyo Sharingan.'

As Jiren started charging towards Kakashi, a small black hole started to form in front of Kakashi as his body started to distort into it before he suddenly warped inside it.

'What the fuck!.' Jiren exclaimed as Kakashi and his chakra signature suddenly disappeared. 'Don't tell me he teleported and ran away.'

* * *

Reiko who had just witnessed all this cursed under her breath before looking behind at Rin still healing an injured Obito. Crouching down she placed her palms on the ground, 'Ice Style: Ice Cage Jutsu.' Suddenly a massive block of ice formed around the two twins, trapping them within the dome. _That should hold them in for a few minutes, now I need to take Dadan down before he reaches Obito. That dimwit will crush them with his brute strength._

As she started sprinting behind her target, Jiren caught onto her plan.

'Oh no you don't.' he exclaimed as he shunshined in front of her path causing her to stop her chase, 'I'm sure Lord Orochimaru would be very pleased if I took out the rogue subordinate that tried to rescue Obito. Don't you think so?' Jiren smirked.

'Get out of my way Jiren, you and I both know you're no match for me.'

'There's only one way to prove that theory of yours,' he said as he leapt back and drew shurikens from his holster and threw them at Reiko, 'Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Shuriken Jutsu.' The oncoming shurikens were immediately enveloped in flame as they continued on their trajectory.

Joining her thumb to her index finger, Reiko brought her hand to her mouth before blowing through the gap, 'Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu.'

As the two jutsus clashed against each other the shurikens fell to the ground leaving a small cloud of steam in its wake.

'Pathetic. This isn't my first time going up against that jutsu and yours is by far one of the weakest renditions I've encountered.' She said in an attempt to rile him up as she drew her katana, 'I told you to let me pass but since you insist on getting in my way I'm afraid you have to die.'

'YOU'RE THE ONE THAT DIES TODAY!' He yelled as he allowed his blade to be enveloped in flame once again before charging at Reiko.

As he neared her, Reiko sidestepped his swing as she pivoted away from his blade before she swung her katana two inches from his face.

Turning around to face each other, Jiren started to laugh. 'What the hell was that, I thought you were much more proficient with your katana, you were barely able to lay-' he stopped speaking as his expression grew serious, raising his free hand to his face he felt something warm and wet running down his cheek, bringing his fingers in front of him he saw the blood staining his hand. Staring back at Reiko in shock he glanced down at her blade and noticed the blue hue of her chakra that extended a few centimeters past the tip of the blade.

'YOU BITCH!' he yelled, 'YOU CUT ME. YOU CUT MY FACE. I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS.'

From the corner of her eye she noticed Rin holding her kunai in a battle stance ready to take on the charging enemy.

 _I need to help her, Dadan is way too strong for her to handle alone and Obito doesn't seem to be fully healed either._

Suddenly a small black spiral started to form over Dadan as a hand started to emerge from within it. Before anyone realized what had happened, the big made man was sliding face first across the ground with Kakashi pining him down from the back of his neck. They came to a stop a few metres from Rin and Obito.

Glancing up from his pinned target he gave a sheepish smile at a surprised Rin, 'Didn't scare you did I?'

Rin just stared at him mouth slightly agape as she shook her head in the negative, still unsure what she just witnessed. _Kakashi just appeared out of nowhere and taken down that beast of a man._ She thought to herself

'Show off.' Obito muttered to himself before noticing Kakashi's sharingan. He quickly shot up but immediately regretted it as he winced from the pain it caused him.

Coming back to the present at the sound of Obito's hiss, Rin crouched next to him as she made him lie back. 'You're in no condition to be moving. You still haven't been healed.' She said as she let her chakra flow through him again.

Turning his head to the side, Obito looked concernedly at Kakashi. 'Your sharingan, what's wrong with it?' he asked, unsure what to make of the unusual pattern it bore.

Touching his temple he smiled as the kaleidoscopic pattern reverted back to the three tomoes, 'This is the Mangekyo Sharingan. It's a much more advanced version of the sharingan, I awoke it back in our mission with Zaku though I didn't know I had done so at the time. While it is bad-ass I can't use it for long, it puts too much of a strain on my body and chakra reserves.'

Suddenly a shadow fell over Kakashi, turning around he saw a heavily bruised Dadan glaring at him.

'You hurt Dadan. Dadan mad!'

'You're still moving, I thought you'd be out for the count.' Kakashi said as he pulled out the tanto from his back once again.

In the blink of an eye he had shunshined underneath Dadan, 'Should have stayed down big boy.' He said as he drove the tanto through his chest causing the man to gasp for air as he started to cough up blood. Falling to his knees he held onto the Kakashi's hands that gripped the hilt of the tanto. 'I'll make this quick for you.' Kakashi said as he twisted the blade within his chest causing the man's hands to lose its strength before falling limply by his side. Pulling out the blade he wiped the blood against his trousers before sheathing it as Dadan's body fell backward on the ground.

* * *

On seeing Kakashi come to his friends' aid, Reiko's worries were eased as she turned her attention to the enemy in front of her.

'Last chance Jiren, leave now and live.'

'Not a chance. You die first then your little posse over there follows.'

'Suit yourself.' She said as they both started to charge at each other. As they neared each other Jiren swung once again but Reiko slid on her knees as she ducked under the swing of his blade while placing a paper bomb on his right shin at the same time. Sliding out of range she brought her hand up to form the signs and set off the bomb causing Jiren to immediately fall to the ground from the unexpected explosion.

'A good shinobi knows when he's outmatched and admits defeat.' She said as she walked up to a heavily wounded Jiren. 'It's your fault that it had to end like this.' And with that she drove her katana through his chest delivering the finishing blow.

A few moments after her battle with Jiren had ended the group felt an eerie chill run down their spines.

* * *

The twins had just managed to escape from the dome but were confronted with a rather unexpected sight. Near the group with Obito lay a lifeless Dadan on the ground, while on the other side Jiren had just fallen to the ground from a close range explosion as Reiko approached him with a clear intent to kill.

'Brother I think we are dealing with enemies from a different league.'

'My thoughts exactly Sakon.'

'I suggest we try and escape with our lives while we still can.'

'Sounds good.'

The duo had barely covered 200 meters when they were intercepted by a huge figure appearing in front of them. The man grabbed them by the throat before choke-slamming them into the ground.

As they got their bearings they stared up at shark like man with pale blue skin wearing a sinister grin.

'Hello there boys.' He said.

'Kisame!' they gulped.

'What do we have here Kisame? You boys wouldn't have been planning on deserting your posts, were you?' A voice asked from a few meters away.

'Orochimaru sama, we would never.' Ukon replied.

'Yes, yes. Brother is telling the truth, we never anticipated to be ambushed by such a strong force; they took out both Dadan and Jiren with ease and the new boy never stood a chance. We were just on our way to look for Kisame to help us out.'

'That sure is an interesting story.' Orochimaru chuckled. 'But that doesn't explain why you never stayed to finish your duty.'

'I think samehada would love to cut you both up, I'm sure he's plenty hungry. It's only fitting for someone that can't serve Orochimaru like they were ordered to.'

'No please don't do it.' Sakon begged.

'Yes, please don't, we'll do anything.'

'Let them go, they're only kids Kisame.' Orochimaru said as he chuckled louder.

Easing his grip around their necks, Kisame stood up. 'You're lucky Orochimaru is such a forgiving master. I would have gutted you both alive.' He said.

'Now tell me boys, how many enemies were there?'

'Three of them, Orochimaru sama.'

'A medic that's tending to Obito, Reiko, and a silver haired demon. He single-handedly took out Dadan and the new guy. He's so fast we can't see him move.'

'Yes, Yes. He even appeared out of nowhere and killed Dadan with a single strike. We didn't even see how he killed new boy.'

'Reiko and Kakashi, I'm so excited I could cry.' Kisame said as he drew out samehada. 'Now then, run along boys.' He said as the two of them looked at each other before taking a few steps forward.

Suddenly they felt a gripping pain in their chests, looking down they noticed pale white arms protruding out the front, turning around they stared into the snake-like eyes of Orochimaru.

'Who said you were getting out alive. I detest weakness more than anything.' He replied as he pulled his arms out and wiped the blood off against the back of their robes.

'Let's go Kisame, my prized Uchiha must be waiting for me to rescue him from those monsters.' he said as his tongue snaked out and licked his lips.

* * *

 **SO... Hope you guys enjoyed that. I admit it was much more graphic than my usual action scenes and probably was worth the M rating but i was enjoying the whole vibe going on.**

 **Are you guys ready for the impending showdown with the legend Orochimaru himself? He's probably one of the most badass villains of the series, though i will admit he has nothing on the beast that is Madara.**

 **As always, thanks for reading and would love to read your thoughts and reviews on the chapter.**

 **Till next time.**

 **Cheers!**


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